^ l0!*}  4 


THE  BHAGAVAD-GITA 


THE  BHAGAVAD-GITA 


THE  BOOK  OF  DEVOTION 


DIALOGUE  BETWEEN  KRISHNA, 
LORD  OF  DEVOTION, 

AND  ARJUNA, 

PRINCE  OF  INDIA 


From  the  Sanskrit 

By  WILLIAM  Q.  JUDGE 


TENTH  EDITION 


^^ToTpiic£^ 

MAR  2 £000 


united;lodge  of  theosophists 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 
1920 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/bhagavadgitabookOOjudg 


CONTENTS 


Antecedent  Words,  - - - - vii 

Chapter  i. — The  Despondency  of  Arjuna,  - 1 

Chapter  ii. — Application  to  the  Speculative 

Doctrines,  - - - - - 9 

Chapter  iii. — The  right  of  performance  of  Ac- 
tion, - - - - - - 22 

Chapter  iv. — Spiritual  Knowledge,  - - 30 

Chapter  v. — Renunciation  of  Action,  - 38 

Chapter  vi. — Self-Restraint,  - - - 44 

Chapter  vii. — Spiritual  Discernment,  - - S3 

Chapter  viii. — The  Omnipresent  Spirit  named 

as  Om,  - - - - - 58 

Chapter  ix. — The  Kingly  Knowledge  and 

Kingly  Mystery,  - - - - 64 

Chapter  x. — Devotion  by  means  of  the  Uni- 
versal Divine  Perfections,  - - - 70 

Chapter  xi. — Vision  of  the  Divine  Form  as  in- 
cluding all  forms,  - - - - 78 

Chapter  xii. — Devotion  by  means  of  Faith,  - 89 

Chapter  xiii. — Discrimination  of  Kshetra  from 

Kshetrajna,  - - - - - 93 

Chapter  xiv.— Separation  from  the  Three 

Qualities,  - 100 

Chapter  xv. — Knowledge  of  the  Supreme 

Spirit,  ------  105 

Chapter  xvi. — Discriminating  between  Godlike 

and  Demoniacal  Natures,  - 110 

Chapter  xvii. — The  three  kinds  of  Faith,  - 115 
Chapter  xviii. — Renunciation  and  Final  Lib- 
eration, -----  121 


ANTECEDENT  WORDS 


HE  Bhagavad-Gitd  is  an  episode  of  the 
Mahabharata,  which  is  said  to  have 
been  written  by  Vyasa.  Who  this 
Vyasa  is  and  when  he  lived  is  not 


known. 

J.  Cockburn  Thomson,  in  his  translation 
of  the  Bhagavad-Gita,  says:  “The  Mahd- 

bharata,  as  all  students  of  Sanskrit  well  know, 
is  the  great  epic  of  India,  which  from  its  pop- 
ularity and  extent  would  seem  to  correspond 
with  the  Iliad  among  the  Greeks.  The  theme 
of  the  whole  work  is  a certain  war  which  was 
carried  on  between  two  branches  of  one  tribe, 
the  descendants  of  Kuru,  for  the  sovereignty 
of  Hastinapura,  commonly  supposed  to  be  the 
same  as  the  modern  Delhi.  The  elder  branch 
is  called  by  the  general  name  of  the  whole  tribe, 
Kurus;  the  younger  goes  by  the  patronymic, 
from  Pandu,  the  father  of  the  five  principal 
leaders. 

“This  war  between  the  Kurus  and  Pand- 
avas  occupies  about  twenty  thousand  slokas, 
or  a quarter  of  the  whole  work  as  we  now  pos- 
sess it.  ...  In  order  to  understand  the  al- 


Vlll 


lusions  there  [in  the  Bhagavad-Gita ] a knowl- 
edge is  requisite  of  the  previous  history  of 
the  tribe,  which  will  now  be  given  as  follows. 

“Of  the  name  Kuru  we  know  but  little, 
but  that  little  is  sufficient  to  prove  that  it  is 
one  of  great  importance.  We  have  no  means 
of  deriving  it  from  any  Sanskrit  root,  nor  has 
it,  like  too  many  of  the  Hindu  names,  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  explanatory  of  the  pecul- 
iarities of  the  person  or  persons  whom  it 
designates.  It  is  therefore  in  all  probability 
a name  of  considerable  antiquity,  brought  by 
the  Aryan  race  from  their  first  seat  in  Central 
Asia.  Its  use  in  Sanskrit  is  fourfold.  It  is 
the  name  of  the  northern  quarter  or  Dwipa  of 
the  world,  and  is  described  as  lying  between 
the  most  northern  range  of  snowy  mountains 
and  the  polar  sea.  It  is  further  the  name  of 
the  most  northern  of  the  nine  varshas  of  the 
known  world.  Among  the  long  genealogies 
of  the  tribe  itself  it  is  known  as  the  name  of 
an  ancient  king  to  whom  the  foundation  of  the 
tribe  is  attributed.  Lastly,  it  designates  an 
Aryan  tribe  of  sufficient  importance  to  disturb 
the  whole  of  northern  India  with  its  factions, 
and  to  make  its  battles  the  theme  of  the  longest 
epic  of  olden  time. 


IX 


“Viewing  these  facts  together  we  should 
be  inclined  to  draw  the  conclusion  that  the 
name  was  originally  that  of  a race  inhabiting 
Central  Asia  beyond  the  Himalaya,  who  em- 
igrated with  other  races  into  the  northwest  of 
the  peninsula  and  with  them  formed  the  great 
people  who  styled  themselves  unitedly  Arya, 
or  the  noble,  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
aborigines  whom  they  subdued  and  on  whose 
territories  they  eventually  settled.  . . . 

“At  the  time  when  the  plot  of  the  Mahd- 
bharata  was  enacted  this  tribe  was  situated 
in  the  plain  of  the  Doab,  and  their  particular 
region  lying  between  the  Jumna  and  Sursooty 
rivers,  was  called  Kurukshetra,  or  the  plain 
of  the  Kurus.  The  capital  of  this  country  was 
Hastinapura,  and  here  reigned  at  a period  of 
which  we  cannot  give  the  exact  date  a king 
named  Vichitravirya.  He  was  the  son  of 
Shantanu  and  Satyavati ; and  Bhishma  and 
Krishna  Dwaipayana,  the  Vyasa,  were  his  half- 
brothers  ; the  former  being  his  father’s,  the 
latter  his  mother’s  son.  He  married  two  sis- 
ters— Amba  and  Ambalika — but  dying  shortly 
after  marriage,  he  left  no  progeny ; and  his 
half-brother  the  Vyasa,  instigated  by  divine 
compassion,  married  his  widow  and  begat  two 


X 


sons,  Dhritarashtra  and  Pandu.  The  former 
had  one  hundred  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom 
was  Duryodhana.  The  latter  married  firstly 
Pritha,  or  Kunti,  the  daughter  of  Shura,  and 
secondly  Madri.  The  children  of  these  wives 
were  the  five  Pandava  princes;  but  as  their 
mortal  father,  while  hunting,  had  been  cursed 
by  a deer  to  be  childless  all  his  life,  these  chil- 
dren were  mystically  begotten  by  different 
deities.  Thus  Yudhishthira,  Bhima,  and  Ar- 
juna  were  the  sons  of  Pritha  by  Dharma, 
Vayu,  and  Indra  respectively.  Nakula  was 
the  son  of  Madri  by  Nasatya  the  elder,  and 
Sahadeva  by  Darsa  the  younger  of  the  twin 
Ashwinau,  the  physicians  of  the  gods.  This 
story  would  seem  to  be  a fiction  invented  to 
give  a divine  origin  to  the  five  heroes  of  the 
poem ; but  however  that  may  be,  Duryodhana 
and  his  brothers  are  the  leaders  of  the  Kuru, 
or  elder  branch  of  the  tribe ; and  the  five  Pan- 
dava princes  those  of  the  Pandava  or  younger 
branch. 

“Dhritarashtra  was  blind,  but,  although  thus 
incapacitated  for  governing,  he  retained  the 
throne,  while  his  son  Duryodhana  really  di- 
rected the  affairs  of  the  state.  . . . He 

prevailed  on  his  father  to  banish  his  cousins, 


xi 


the  Pandava  princes,  from  the  country.  Af- 
ter long  wanderings  and  varied  hardships, 
these  princes  collected  their  friends  around 
them,  formed  by  the  help  of  many  neighbor- 
ing kings  a vast  army,  and  prepared  to  attack 
their  unjust  oppressor,  who  had  in  like  man- 
ner assembled  his  forces. 

“The  hostile  armies  meet  on  the  plain  of 
the  Kurus.  Bhishma,  the  half-brother  of 
Vichitravirya,  being  the  oldest  warrior  among 
them,  has  comnland  of  the  Kuru  faction ; 
Bhima,  the  second  son  of  Pandu,  noted  for 
his  strength  and  prowess,  is  the  general  of 
the  other  party  [Arjuna’s].  The  scene  of  our 
poem  now  opens  and  remains  throughout  the 
same — the  field  of  battle.  In  order  to  intro- 
duce to  the  reader  the  names  of  the  princi- 
pal chieftains  in  each  army,  Duryodhana  is 
made  to  approach  Drona,  his  military  pre- 
ceptor, and  name  them  one  by  one.  The 
challenge  is  then  suddenly  given  by  Bhish- 
ma, the  Kuru  general,  by  blowing  his  conch; 
and  he  is  seconded  by  all  his  followers.  It  is 
returned  by  Arjuna,  who  is  in  the  same  char- 
iot with  the  god  Krishna,  who,  in  compassion 
for  the  persecution  he  had  suffered,  had  be- 
come his  intimate  friend,  and  was  acting  the 


xii 

part  of  a charioteer  to  him.  He  is  followed 
by  all  the  generals  of  the  Pandavas.  The 
fight  then  begins  with  a volley  of  arrows 
from  both  sides;  but  when  Arjuna  perceives 
it  he  begs  Krishna  to  draw  up  the  chariot  in 
the  space  between  the  two  armies  while  he 
examines  the  lines  of  the  enemy.  The  god 
does  so  and  points  out  in  those  lines  the  nu- 
merous relatives  of  his  friend.  Arjuna  is 
horror-struck  at  the  idea  of  committing  fratri- 
cide by  slaying  his  near  relations,  and  throws 
down  his  bow  and  arrows,  declaring  that  he 
would  rather  be  killed  without  defending  him- 
self than  fight  against  them.  Krishna  replies 
with  the  arguments  which  form  the  didactic 
and  philosophical  doctrines  of  the  work,  and 
endeavors  to  persuade  him  that  he  mistakes  in 
forming  such  a resolution.  Arjuna  is  event- 
ually overruled.  The  fight  goes  on,  and  the 
Pandavas  defeat  their  opponents.” 

This  quotation  from  Thomson's  edition 
gives  the  student  a brief  statement  of  what 
is  more  or  less  mythological  and  allegorical, 
but  if  the  story  of  the  Mahabharata  be  taken 
as  that  of  Man  in  his  evolutionary  develop- 
ment, as  I think  it  ought  to  be,  the  whole 
can  be  raised  from  the  plane  of  fable,  and 


Xlll 


the  student  will  then  have  before  him  an  ac- 
count, to  some  extent,  of  that  evolution. 

Thus  looking  at  it  from  the  Theosophical 
point  of  view,  the  king  Dhritarashtra,  is  the 
human  body  which  is  acquired  by  the  immor- 
tal Monad  in  order  to  go  through  the  evo- 
lutionary journey;  the  mortal  envelope  is 
brought  into  existence  by  means  of  Tanha, 
or  thirst  for  life.  He  is  blind  because  the 
body  without  the  faculties  within  is  merely 
senseless  matter,  and  thus  is  “incapacitated 
for  governing,”  and  some  other  person  is  rep- 
resented in  the  Maliabharata  as  being  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  state,  the  nominal  king  being 
the  body — Dhritarashtra.  As  the  Theosoph- 
ical scheme  holds  that  there  is  a double  line 
of  evolution  within  us,  we  find  that  the  Kurus 
spoken  of  in  the  poem  represent  the  more 
material  side  of  those  two  lines,  and  the  Pan- 
da va  princes,  of  whom  Arjuna  is  one,  stand 
for  the  spiritual  side  of  the  stream— that  is, 
Arjuna  represents  the  immortal  Spark. 

The  learned  Brahmin  Theosophist,  Subba 
Row,  says  in  his  Notes  on  the  Bhagavad-Gita 
( Vide  The  Theosophist , Vol.  vm,  p.  299): 
“Krishna  was  intended  to  represent  the  Logos, 
. . . and  Arjuna,  who  was  called  Nara, 


XIV 


was  intended  to  represent  the  human  monad.” 
Nara  also  means  Man.  The  alleged  celestial 
origin  for  the  two  branches  of  the  family,  the 
Kurus  and  Pandavas,  is  in  perfect  consonance 
with  this,  for  the  body,  or  Dhritarashtra,  being 
solely  material  and  the  lower  plane  in  which 
the  development  takes  place,  the  Kurus  and 
Pandavas  are  our  inheritance  from  the  celes- 
tial beings  often  referred  to  in  Mme.  Blavat- 
sky’s  Secret  Doctrine,  the  one  tending  towards 
materiality,  the  other  being  spiritual.  The 
Kurus,  then,  the  lower  portion  of  our  nature 
earliest  developed,  obtain  the  power  on  this 
plane  for  the  time  being,  and  one  of  them, 
Duryodhana,  “prevails,”  so  that  the  Pandavas, 
or  the  more  spiritual  parts  of  our  nature,  are 
banished  temporarily  from  the  country,  that 
is,  from  governing  Man.  “The  long  wander- 
ings and  varied  hardships”  of  the  Pandavas 
are  wanderings  caused  by  the  necessities  of 
evolution  before  these  better  parts  are  able 
to  make  a stand  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
the  control  in  Man’s  evolutionary  struggle. 
This  also  has  reference  to  the  cyclic  rise  and 
fall  of  nations  and  the  race. 

The  hostile  armies,  then,  who  meet  on  the 
plain  of  the  Kurus  are  these  two  collections 


XV 


of  the  human  faculties  and  powers,  those  on 
one  side  tending  to  drag  us  down,  those  on  the 
other  aspiring  towards  spiritual  illumination. 
The  battle  refers  not  only  to  the  great  war- 
fare that  mankind  as  a whole  carries  on,  but 
also  to  the  struggle  which  is  inevitable  as  soon 
as  any  one  unit  in  the  human  family  resolves 
to  allow  his  higher  nature  to  govern  him  in 
his  life.  Hence,  bearing  in  mind  the  sug- 
gestion made  by  Subba  Row,  we  see  that  Ar- 
juna,  called  Nara,  represents  not  only  Man 
as  a race,  but  also  any  individual  who  re- 
solves upon  the  task  of  developing  his  better 
nature.  What  is  described  as  happening  in 
the  poem  to  him  will  come  to  every  such  in- 
dividual. Opposition  from  friends  and  from 
all  the  habits  he  has  acquired,  and  also  that 
which  naturally  arises  from  hereditary  ten- 
dencies, will  confront  him,  and  then  it  will 
depend  upon  how  he  listens  to  Krishna,  who 
is  the  Logos  shining  within  and  speaking  with- 
in, whether  he  will  succeed  or  fail. 

With  these  suggestions  the  student  will  find 
that  the  mythology  and  allegory  spoken  of  by 
Thomson  and  others  are  useful  instead  of 
being  merely  ornamental,  or,  as  some  think, 
superfluous  and  misleading. 


XVI 


The  only  cheap  edition  of  the  Bhagavad- 
Gita  hitherto  within  the  reach  of  Theosophi- 
cal  students  of  limited  means  has  been  one 
which  was  published  in  Bombay  by  Brother 
Tookeram  Tatya,  F.  T.  S.,  whose  efforts  in 
that  direction  are  entitled  to  the  highest  praise. 
But  that  one  was  simply  a reprint  of  the  first 
English  translation  made  one  hundred  years 
ago  by  Wilkins.  The  great  attention  of  late 
bestowed  on  the  poem  by  nearly  all  members 
of  the  Theosophical  Society  in  America  has 
created  an  imperative  demand  for  an  edition 
which  shall  be  at  least  free  from  some  of  the 
glaring  typographical  mistakes  and  blind  ren- 
derings so  frequent  in  the  Wilkins  reprint.  To 
meet  this  demand  the  present  has  been  made 
up.  It  is  the  result  of  a careful  comparison 
of  all  the  English  editions  and  of  a complete 
retranslation  from  the  original  wherever  any 
obscurity  or  omission  was  evident  in  the  va- 
rious renderings  consulted. 

The  making  of  a commentary  has  not  been 
essayed,  because  it  is  believed  that  the  Bha- 
gavad-Gita  should  stand  on  its  own  merits 
without  comments,  each  student  being  left  to 
himself  to  see  deeper  as  he  advances.  The  pub- 
lisher of  this  edition  holds  that  the  poem  can 


xvn 


be  read  in  many  different  ways,  each  depend- 
ing on  the  view-point  taken,  e.  g.,  whether 
it  is  considered  in  its  application  to  the  indi- 
vidual, or  to  cosmogenesis,  or  to  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  Astral  world,  or  the  Hierarchies 
in  Nature,  or  to  the  moral  nature,  and  so  on. 
To  attach  a commentary,  except  such  an  one 
as  only  a sage  like  Sankaracharya  could  write, 
would  be  audacious,  and  therefore  the  poem 
is  given  undisfigured. 

The  Bhagavad-Glta  tends  to  impress  upon 
the  individual  two  things:  first,  selflessness, 
and  second,  action ; the  studying  of  and  living 
by  it  will  arouse  the  belief  that  there  is  but 
one  Spirit  and  not  several;  that  we  cannot 
live  for  ourselves  alone,  but  must  come  to 
realize  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  separate- 
ness, and  no  possibility  of  escaping  from  the 
collective  Karma  of  the  race  to  which  one 
belongs,  and  then,  that  we  must  think  and 
act  in  accordance  with  such  belief. 

The  poem  is  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by 
all  sects  in  Hindustan  except  the  Mahomme- 
dan  and  Christian.  It  has  been  translated  into 
many  languages,  both  Asiatic  and  European ; 
it  is  being  read  to-day  by  hundreds  of  sincere 
Theosophists  in  every  part  of  the  world.  To 


XV1U 


those  and  to  all  others  who  truly  love  their 
fellowmen,  and  who  aspire  to  learn  and  teach 
the  science  of  devotion,  this  edition  of  the  Bha- 
gavad-Gitd  is  offered. 

William  Q.  Judge. 

New  York,  October,  1890. 


‘I  established  this  whole  Universe  with  a single  portion'of 
myself,  and  remain  separate.” — Tenth  Chapter. 


The  Bhagavad-Gita 

The  Book  of  Devotion 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  DESPONDENCY  OF  ARJUNA 


OM  ! 

DHRITARASHTRA: 

ELL  me,  O Sanjaya,  what  the  people 
of  my  own  party  and  those  of  Pan- 
du,  who  are  assembled  at  Kurukshe- 
tra  resolved  upon  war,  have  been 

doing.* 

SANJAYA: 

King  Duryodhana,  having  just  beheld  the 

The  key  for  reading  the  Bhagavad-Gita  is  to  be  ap- 
plied to  this  first  verse.  If  we  look  at  the  poem  in  its 
application  to  a man  aspiring  to  devotion,  then  the 
battlefield  is  the  body  acquired  by  Karma  and  Tanha, 
thirst  for  life,  while  the  speaker  and  his  party  repre- 
sent the  lower  self,  and  the  Pandus  the  Higher  Self. 
But  if  this  and  succeeding  chapters  are  regarded  from 
the  cosmic  standpoint,  then  the  speaker,  the  plain  of 


2 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


army  of  the  Pandus  drawn  up  in  battle  array, 
went  to  his  preceptor  and  spoke  these  words: 
“Behold ! O Master,  the  mighty  army  of 
the  sons  of  Pandu  drawn  up  by  thy  pupil, 
the  clever  son  of  Drupada.  In  it  are  war- 
riors with  great  bows,  equal  to  Bhima  and 
Arjuna  in  battle,  namely,  Yuyudhana,  and 
Virata,  and  Drupada  on  his  great  car;  Dhrish- 
taketu,  Chekitana,  and  the  valiant  king  of 
Kashi,  and  Purujit,  and  Kuntibhoja,  with 
Shaivya,  chief  of  men;  Yudhamanyu  the 
strong,  and  Uttamauja  the  brave;  the  son  of 
Subhadra,  and  all  the  sons  of  Draupadi,  too,  in 
their  huge  chariots.  Be  acquainted  also  with  the 
names  of  those  of  our  party  who  are  the  most 
distinguished.  I will  mention  a few  of  those 
who  are  amongst  my  generals,  by  way  of  ex- 
ample. There  is  thyself,  my  Preceptor,  and 
Bhishma,  Kama  and  Kripa,  the  conqueror  in 


Kuru,  the  generals  described  in  the  first  chapter,  to- 
gether with  their  instruments  and  weapons,  are  beings, 
forces,  planes,  and  planets  in  the  universe,  of  which 
it  would  be  out  of  place  to  treat  here.  As  applied  to 
ourselves,  the  poem  is  of  greater  interest  and  import- 
ance : it  opens  with  the  battle  inevitable  between  the 
higher  and  lower  natures  of  man,  and  then,  from  this 
view-point,  Krishna — who  is  the  Higher  Self, — in  order 
to  encourage  Arjuna,  becomes  his  instructor  in  philos- 
ophy and  right  ethics,  so  that  he  may  be  fit  to  fight  and 
conquer. 


CHAPTER  FIRST 


3 


battle,  and  Aswatthama,  and  Vikarna,  and  the 
son  of  Soma-datta,  with  others  in  vast  num- 
bers, who  for  my  service  risk  their  life.  They 
are  all  of  them  practiced  in  the  use  of  arms, 
armed  with  divers  weapons,  and  experienced 
in  every  mode  of  fight.  This  army  of  ours, 
which  is  commanded  by  Bhishma,  is  not  suffi- 
cient, while  their  forces,  led  by  Bhima,  are 
sufficient.  Let  all  the  generals,  according  to 
their  respective  divisions,  stand  at  their  posts, 
and  one  and  all  resolve  Bhishma  to  support.” 
The  ancient  chief,  brother  of  the  grandsire 
of  the  Kurus,  then,  to  raise  the  spirits  of  the 
Kuru  chief,  blew  his  shell,  sounding  like  the 
lion’s  roar;  and  instantly  innumerable  shells 
and  other  warlike  instruments  were  sounded 
on  all  sides,  so  that  the  clangor  was  excess- 
ive. At  this  time  Krishna  and  Arjuna,  stand- 
ing in  a splendid  chariot  drawn  by  white 
horses,  also  sounded  their  shells,  which  were 
of  celestial  form : the  name  of  the  one  which 
Krishna  blew  was  Panchajanya,  and  that  of 
Arjuna  was  called  Deva-datta — “the  gift  of 
the  Gods.”  Bhima,  of  terrific  power,  blew 
his  capacious  shell,  Paundra;  and  Yudhish- 
thira,  the  royal  son  of  Kunti,  sounded  Anan- 


4 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


ta-Vijaya;  Nakula  and  Sahadeva  blew  their 
shells  also,  the  one  called  Sughosha,  the  other 
Manipushpaka.  The  prince  of  Kashi,  of  the 
mighty  bow ; Sikhandi,  Dhrishtadyumna,  Vir- 
ata, Satyaki,  of  invincible  arm ; Drupada  and 
the  sons  of  his  royal  daughter;  Krishna,  with 
the  son,  Subhadra,  and  all  the  other  chiefs 
and  nobles,  blew  also  their  respective  shells, 
so  that  their  shrill-sounding  voices  pierced  the 
hearts  of  the  Kurus  and  reechoed  with  a dread- 
ful noise  from  heaven  to  earth. 

Then  Arjuna,  whose  crest  was  Hanuman, 
perceiving  that  the  sons  of  Dhritarashtra  stood 
ready  to  begin  the  fight,  and  that  the  flying  of 
arrows  had  commenced,  having  raised  his  bow, 
addressed  these  words  to  Krishna. 


ARJUNA: 

“I  pray  thee,  Krishna,  cause  my  chariot  to 
be  placed  between  the  two  armies,  that  I may 
behold  who  are  the  men  that  stand  ready, 
anxious  to  commence  the  battle ; with  whom 
it  is  I am  to  fight  in  this  ready  field ; and  who 
they  are  that  are  here  assembled  to  support 
the  evil-minded  son  of  Dhritarashtra  in  the 
battle.” 


CHAPTER  FIRST 


5 


SANJAYA: 

Krishna  being  thus  addressed  by  Arjuna, 
drove  the  chariot,  and,  having  caused  it  to 
halt  in  the  space  between  the  two  armies,  bade 
Arjuna  cast  his  eyes  towards  the  ranks  of  the 
Kurus,  and  behold  where  stood  the  aged 
Bhishma,  and  Drona,  with  all  the  chief  nobles 
of  their  party.  Standing  there  Arjuna  sur- 
veyed both  the  armies,  and  beheld,  on  either 
side,  grandsires,  uncles,  cousins,  tutors,  sons, 
and  brothers,  near  relations,  or  bosom  friends  ; 
and  when  he  had  gazed  for  awhile  and  beheld 
all  his  kith  and  kin  drawn  up  in  battle  array,  he 
was  moved  by  extreme  pity,  and,  filled  with 
despondency,  he  thus  in  sadness  spoke : 


ARJUNA: 

“Now,  O Krishna,  that  I have  beheld  my 
kindred  thus  standing  anxious  for  the  fight, 
my  members  fail  me,  my  countenance  with- 
ereth,  the  hair  standeth  on  end  upon  my  body, 
and  all  my  frame  trembleth  with  horror  ! Even 
Gandiva,  my  bow,  slips  from  my  hand,  and 
my  skin  is  parched  and  dried  up.  I am  not 
able  to  stand ; for  my  mind,  as  it  were,  whirleth 
round,  and  I behold  on  all  sides  adverse  omens. 


6 


B H AG  A V AD-GIT  A 


When  I shall  have  destroyed  my  kindred, 
shall  I longer  look  for  happiness?  I wish  not 
for  victory,  Krishna  ; I want  not  pleasure  ; for 
what  are  dominion  and  the  enjoyments  of  life, 
or  even  life  itself,  when  those  for  whom  dom- 
inion, pleasure,  and  enjoyment  were  to  be 
coveted  have  abandoned  life  and  fortune,  and 
stand  here  in  the  field  ready  for  the  battle? 
Tutors,  sons  and  fathers,  grandsires  and 
grandsons,  uncles  and  nephews,  cousins,  kin- 
dred, and  friends!  Although  they  would  kill 
me,  I wish  not  to  fight  them : no,  not  even  for 
the  dominion  of  the  three  regions  of  the  uni- 
verse, much  less  for  this  little  earth ! Having 
killed  the  sons  of  Dhritarashtra,  what  pleasure, 
O thou  who  art  prayed  to  by  mortals,  can  we 
enjoy?  Should  we  destroy  them,  tyrants 
though  they  are,  sin  would  take  refuge  with 
us.  It  therefore  behooveth  us  not  to  kill  such 
near  relations  as  these.  How,  O Krishna,  can 
we  be  happy  hereafter,  when  we  have  been 
the  murderers  of  our  race?  What  if  they, 
whose  minds  are  depraved  by  the  lust  of 
power,  see  no  sin  in  the  extirpation  of  their 
race,  no  crime  in  the  murder  of  their  friends, 
is  that  a reason  why  we  should  not  resolve  to 
turn  away  from  such  a crime — we  who  abhor 


CHAPTER  FIRST 


7 


the  sin  of  extirpating  our  own  kindred?  On 
the  destruction  of  a tribe  the  ancient  virtue 
of  the  tribe  and  family  is  lost ; with  the  loss  of 
virtue,  vice  and  impiety  overwhelm  the  whole 
of  a race.  From  the  influence  of  impiety  the 
females  of  a family  grow  vicious ; and  from 
women  that  are  become  vicious  are  born  the 
spurious  caste  called  Varna  Sankar.  Corrup- 
tion of  caste  is  a gate  of  hell,  both  for  these 
destroyers  of  a tribe  and  for  those  who  sur- 
vive; and  their  forefathers,  being  deprived  of 
the  ceremonies  of  cakes  and  water  offered  to 
their  manes,  sink  into  the  infernal  regions.  By 
the  crimes  of  the  destroyers  of  a tribe  and 
by  those  who  cause  confusion  of  caste,  the 
family  virtue  and  the  virtue  of  a whole  tribe 
are  forever  done  away  with ; and  we  have 
read  in  sacred  writ,  O Krishna,  that  a sojourn 
in  hell  awaits  those  mortals  whose  genera- 
tion hath  lost  its  virtue.  Woe  is  me!  What 
a great  crime  are  we  prepared  to  commit! 
Alas ! that  from  the  desire  for  sovereignty 
and  pleasure  we  stand  here  ready  to  slay  our 
own  kin ! I would  rather  patiently  suffer  that 
the  sons  of  Dhritarashtra,  with  their  weapons 
in  their  hands,  should  come  upon  me,  and,  un- 
opposed, kill  me  unresisting  in  the  field.” 


8 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


SANJAYA: 

When  Arjuna  had  ceased  to  speak,  he  sat 
down  in  the  chariot  between  the  two  armies; 
and,  having  put  away  his  bow  and  arrows, 
his  heart  was  overwhelmed  with  despondency. 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gitd,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  First  Chapter,  by  name— 

THE  DESPONDENCY  OF  ARJUNA. 


CHAPTER  II. 


devotion  through  application  to  the  speculative 

DOCTRINES. 


SANJAYA: 

RISHNA,  beholding  him  thus  influ- 
enced by  compunction,  his  eyes  over- 
flowing with  a flood  of  tears,  and  his 
heart  oppressed  with  deep  affliction, 
addressed  him  in  'the  following  words : 

KRISHNA: 

“Whence,  O Arjuna,  cometh  upon  thee  this 
dejection  in  matters  of  difficulty,  so  unworthy 
of  the  honorable,  and  leading  neither  to  heaven 
nor  to  glory?  It  is  disgraceful,  contrary  to 
duty,  and  the  foundation  of  dishonor.  Yield 
not  thus  to  unmanliness,  for  it  ill-becometh 
one  like  thee.  Abandon,  O tormentor  of  thy 
foes,  this  despicable  weakness  of  thy  heart, 
and  stand  up.” 

ARJUNA: 


“How,  O slayer  of  Madhu,  shall  I with 


IO 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


my  shafts  contend  in  battle  against  such  as 
Bhishma  and  Drona,  who  of  all  men  are  most 
worthy  of  my  respect?  For  it  were  better 
to  beg  my  bread  about  the  world  than  be  the 
murderer  of  my  preceptors,  to  whom  such 
awful  reverence  is  due.  Were  I to  destroy 
such  friends  as  these,  I should  partake  of 
possessions,  wealth,  and  pleasures  polluted 
with  their  blood.  Nor  can  we  tell  whether 
it  would  be  better  that  we  should  defeat  them, 
or  they  us.  For  those  drawn  up,  angrily  con- 
fronting us — and  after  whose  death,  should 
they  perish  by  my  hand,  I would  not  wish  to 
live — are  the  sons  and  people  of  Dhritarashtra. 
As  I am  of  a disposition  which  is  affected  by 
compassion  and  the  fear  of  doing  wrong,  I 
ask  thee  which  is  it  better  to  do?  Tell  me 
that  distinctly ! I am  thy  disciple  ; wherefore 
instruct  in  my  duty  me  who  am  under  thy 
tuition ; for  my  understanding  is  confounded 
by  the  dictates  of  my  duty,  and  I see  nothing 
that  may  assuage  the  grief  which  drieth  up 
my  faculties,  although  I were  to  obtain  a king- 
dom without  a rival  upon  earth,  or  dominion 
over  the  hosts  of  heaven.” 


CHAPTER  SECOND 


II 


SANJAYA: 

Arjuna  having  thus  spoken  to  Krishna,  be- 
came silent,  saying:  “I  shall  not  fight,  O 

Govinda.”  Krishna,  tenderly  smiling,  ad- 
dressed these  words  to  the  prince  thus  stand- 
ing downcast  between  the  two  armies : 

KRISHNA: 

“Thou  grievest  for  those  that  may  not  be 
lamented,  whilst  thy  sentiments  are  those  of 
the  expounders  of  the  letter  of  the  law.  Those 
who  are  wise  in  spiritual  things  grieve  neither 
for  the  dead  nor  for  the  living.  I myself 
never  was  not,  nor  thou,  nor  all  the  princes 
of  the  earth ; nor  shall  we  ever  hereafter  cease 
to  be.  As  the  lord  of  this  mortal  frame  ex- 
perienceth  therein  infancy,  youth,  and  old  age, 
so  in  future  incarnations  will  it  meet  the  same. 
One  who  is  confirmed  in  this  belief  is  not  dis- 
turbed by  anything  that  may  come  to  pass. 
The  senses,  moving  toward  their  appropriate 
objects,  are  producers  of  heat  and  cold,  pleas- 
ure and  pain,  which  come  and  go  and  are  brief 
and  changeable;  these  do  thou  endure,  O son 
of  Bharata ! For  the  wise  man,  whom  these  dis- 
turb not  and  to  whom  pain  and  pleasure  are 


12 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


the  same,  is  fitted  for  immortality.  There  is  no 
existence  for  that  which  does  not  exist,  nor  is 
there  any  non-existence  for  what  exists.  By 
those  who  see  the  truth  and  look  into  the  prin- 
ciples of  things,  the  ultimate  characteristic  of 
these  both  is  seen.  Learn  that  He  by  whom 
all  things  were  formed  is  incorruptible,  and 
that  no  one  is  able  to  effect  the  destruction 
of  It  which  is  inexhaustible.  These  finite 
bodies,  which  envelope  the  souls  inhabiting 
them,  are  said  to  belong  to  Him,  the  eternal, 
the  indestructible,  unprovable  Spirit,  who  is 
in  the  body:  wherefore,  O Arjuna,  resolve 
to  fight.  The  man  who  believeth  that  it  is 
this  Spirit  which  killeth,  and  he  who  thinketh 
that  it  may  be  destroyed,  are  both  alike  de- 
ceived ; for  it  neither  killeth  nor  is  it  killed. 
It  is  not  a thing  of  which  a man  may  say,  ‘It 
hath  been,  it  is  about  to  be,  or  is  to  be  here- 
after;’ for  it  is  without  birth  and  meeteth  not 
death ; it  is  ancient,  constant,  and  eternal,  and 
is  not  slain  when  this  its  mortal  frame  is 
destroyed.  How  can  the  man  who  believeth 
that  it  is  incorruptible,  eternal,  inexhaustible, 
and  without  birth,  think  that  it  can  either  kill 
or  cause  to  be  killed?  As  a man  throweth 
away  old  garments  and  putteth  on  new,  even 


CHAPTER  SECOND 


13 


so  the  dweller  in  the  body,  having  quitted  its 
old  mortal  frames,  entereth  into  others  which 
are  new.  The  weapon  divideth  it  not,  the  fire 
burneth  it  not,  the  water  corrupteth  it  not,  the 
wind  drieth  it  not  away ; for  it  is  indivisible, 
inconsumable,  incorruptible,  and  is  not  to  be 
dried  away;  it  is  eternal,  universal,  perma- 
nent, immovable;  it  is  invisible,  inconceivable, 
and  unalterable ; therefore,  knowing  it  to  be 
thus,  thou  shouldst  not  grieve.  But  whether 
thou  believest  it  to  be  of  eternal  birth  and 
duration,  or  that  it  dieth  with  the  body,  still 
thou  hast  no  cause  to  lament  it.  Death  is  cer- 
tain to  all  things  which  are  born,  and  rebirth 
to  all  mortals ; wherefore  it  doth  not  behoove 
thee  to  grieve  about  the  inevitable.  The  an- 
tenatal state  of  beings  is  unknown ; the  middle 
state  is  evident;  and  their  state  after  death  is 
not  to  be  discovered.  What  in  this  is  there 
to  lament?  Some  regard  the  indwelling  spirit 
as  a wonder,  whilst  some  speak  and  others 
hear  of  it  with  astonishment ; but  no  one  real- 
izes it,  although  he  may  have  heard  it  de- 
scribed. This  spirit  can  never  be  destroyed 
in  the  mortal  frame  which  it  inhabiteth,  hence 
it  is  unworthy  for  thee  to  be  troubled  for  all 
these  mortals.  Cast  but  thine  eyes  towards 


14 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


the  duties  of  thy  particular  tribe,  and  it  will 
ill  become  thee  to  tremble.  A soldier  of  the 
Kshatriya*  tribe  hath  no  duty  superior  to  law- 
ful war,  and  just  to  thy  wish  the  door  of 
heaven  is  found  open  before  thee,  through 
this  glorious  unsought  fight  which  only  for- 
tune’s favored  soldiers  may  obtain.  But  if 
thou  wilt  not  perform  the  duty  of  thy  calling 
and  fight  out  the  field,  thou  wilt  abandon  thy 
natural  duty  and  thy  honor,  and  be  guilty  of 
a crime.  Mankind  will  speak  of  thy  ill  fame 
as  infinite,  and  for  one  who  hath  been  re- 
spected in  the  world  ill  fame  is  worse  than 
death.  The  generals  of  the  armies  will  think 
that  thy  retirement  from  the  field  arose  from 
fear,  and  even  amongst  those  by  whom  thou 
wert  wont  to  be  thought  great  of  soul  thou 
shalt  become  despicable.  Thine  enemies  will 
speak  of  thee  in  words  which  are  unworthy 
to  be  spoken,  depreciating  thy  courage  and 
abilities ; what  can  be  more  dreadful  than  this  ! 
If  thou  art  slain  thou  shalt  attain  heaven;  if 
victorious,  the  world  shall  be  thy  reward; 
wherefore,  son  of  Kunti,  arise  with  deter- 
mination fixed  for  the  battle.  Make  pleasure 
and  pain,  gain  and  loss,  victory  and  defeat,  the 

♦Kshatriya  is  the  second  or  military  caste  of  India. 


CHAPTER  SECOND 


15 


same  to  thee,  and  then  prepare  for  battle,  for 
thus  and  thus  alone  shalt  thou  in  action  still 
be  free  from  sin. 

“Thus  before  thee  has  been  set  the  opinion 
in  accordance  with  the  Sankhya  doctrine, 
speculatively;  now  hear  what  it  is  in  the 
practical,  devotional  one,  by  means  of  which, 
if  fully  imbued  therewith,  thou  shalt  forever 
burst  the  bonds  of  Karma  and  rise  above  them. 
In  this  system  of  Yoga  no  effort  is  wasted,  nor 
are  there  any  evil  consequences,  and  even  a 
little  of  this  practice  delivereth  a man  from 
great  risk.  In  this  path  there  is  only  one  single 
object,  and  this  of  a steady,  constant  nature; 
but  widely-branched  is  the  faith  and  infinite 
are  the  objects  of  those  who  follow  not  this 
system. 

“The  unwise,  delighting  in  the  controver- 
sies of  the  Vedas,  tainted  with  worldly  lusts, 
and  preferring  a transient  enjoyment  of  heav- 
en to  eternal  absorption,  whilst  they  declare 
there  is  no  other  reward,  pronounce,  for  the 
attainment  of  worldly  riches  and  enjoyments, 
flowery  sentences  which  promise  rewards  in 
future  births  for  present  action,  ordaining  also 
many  special  ceremonies  the  fruit  of  which  is 
merit  leading  to  power  and  objects  of  enjoy- 


l6  BHAGAVAD-GITA 

ment.  But  those  who  thus  desire  riches  and 
enjoyment  have  no  certainty  of  soul  and  least 
hold  on  meditation.  The  subject  of  the  Vedas 
is  the  assemblage  of  the  three  qualities.  Be 
thou  free  from  these  qualities,  O Arjuna!  Be 
free  from  the  ‘pairs  of  opposites’  and  constant 
in  the  quality  of  Sattwa,  free  from  worldly 
anxiety  and  the  desire  to  preserve  present  pos- 
sessions, self-centred  and  uncontrolled  by  ob- 
jects of  mind  or  sense.  As  many  benefits  as 
there  are  in  a tank  stretching  free  on  all  sides, 
so  many  are  there  for  a truth-realizing  Brah- 
man in  all  the  Vedic  rites. 

“Let,  then,  the  motive  for  action  be  in  the 
action  itself,  and  not  in  the  event.  Do  not 
be  incited  to  actions  by  the  hope  of  their  re- 
ward, nor  let  thy  life  be  spent  in  inaction. 
Firmly  persisting  in  Yoga,  perform  thy  duty, 
O Dhananjaya,*  and  laying  aside  all  desire 
for  any  benefit  to  thyself  from  action,  make 
the  event  equal  to  thee,  whether  it  be  suc- 
cess or  failure.  Equal-mindedness  is  called 
Yoga. 

“Yet  the  performance  of  works  is  by  far 
inferior  to  mental  devotion,  O despiser  of 


•Dhananjaya — despiser  of  wealth. 


CHAPTER  SECOND 


17 


wealth.  Seek  an  asylum,  then,  in  this  men- 
tal devotion,  which  is  knowledge ; for  the  mis- 
erable and  unhappy  are  those  whose  impulse 
to  action  is  found  in  its  reward.  But  he  who 
by  means  of  Yoga  is  mentally  devoted  dis- 
misses alike  successful  and  unsuccessful  re- 
sults, being  beyond  them;  Yoga  is  skill  in  the 
performance  of  actions : therefore  do  thou  as- 
pire to  this  devotion.  For  those  who  are  thus 
united  to  knowledge  and  devoted,  who  have 
renounced  all  reward  for  their  actions,  meet 
no  rebirth  in  this  life,  and  go  to  that  eternal 
blissful  abode  which  is  free  from  all  disease 
and  untouched  by  troubles. 

“When  thy  heart  shall  have  worked  through 
the  snares  of  delusion,  then  thou  wilt  attain 
to  high  indifference  as  to  those  doctrines  which 
are  already  taught  or  which  are  yet  to  be 
taught.  When  thy  mind  once  liberated  from 
the  Vedas  shall  be  fixed  immovably  in  con- 
templation, then  shalt  thou  attain  to  devotion.” 


ARJUNA: 

“What,  O Keshava,*  is  the  description  of 
that  wise  and  devoted  man  who  is  fixed  in 

♦Keshava — he  whose  rays  manifest  themselves  as  om- 
niscience— a name  of  Krishna. 


i8 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


contemplation  and  confirmed  in  spiritual 
knowledge?  What  may  such  a sage  declare? 
Where  may  he  dwell?  Does  he  move  and 
act  like  other  men?” 

KRISHNA: 

“A  man  is  said  to  be  confirmed  in  spiritual 
knowledge  when  he  forsaketh  every  desire 
which  entereth  into  his  heart,  and  of  himself 
is  happy  and  content  in  the  Self  through  the 
Self.  His  mind  is  undisturbed  in  adversity; 
he  is  happy  and  contented  in  prosperity,  and 
he  is  a stranger  to  anxiety,  fear,  and  anger. 
Such  a man  is  called  a Muni.f  When  in  every 
condition  he  receives  each  event,  whether  fa- 
vorable or  unfavorable,  with  an  equal  mind 
which  neither  likes  nor  dislikes,  his  wisdom  is 
established,  and,  having  met  good  or  evil, 
neither  rejoiceth  at  the  one  nor  is  cast  down 
by  the  other.  He  is  confirmed  in  spiritual 
knowledge,  when,  like  the  tortoise,  he  can  draw 
in  all  his  senses  and  restrain  them  from  their 
wonted  purposes.  The  hungry  man  loseth  sight 
of  every  other  object  but  the  gratification  of 
his  appetite,  and  when  he  is  become  acquainted 


tMunl — a wise  man. 


CHAPTER  SECOND 


19 


with  the  Supreme,  he  loseth  all  taste  for  ob- 
jects of  whatever  kind.  The  tumultuous  senses 
and  organs  hurry  away  by  force  the  heart  even 
of  the  wise  man  who  striveth  after  perfec- 
tion. Let  a man,  restraining  all  these,  remain 
in  devotion  at  rest  in  me,  his  true  self ; for 
he  who  hath  his  senses  and  organs  in  control 
possesses  spiritual  knowledge. 

“He  who  attendeth  to  the  inclinations  of 
the  senses,  in  them  hath  a concern;  from  this 
concern  is  created1  passion,  from  passion  an- 
ger, from  anger  is  produced  delusion,  from 
delusion  a loss  of  the  memory,  from  the  loss  of 
memory  loss  of  discrimination,  and  from  loss 
of  discrimination  loss  of  all ! But  he  who, 
free  from  attachment  or  repulsion  for  objects, 
experienceth  them  through  the  senses  and  or- 
gans, with  his  heart  obedient  to  his  will,  attains 
to  tranquility  of  thought.  And  this  tranquil 
state  attained,  therefrom  shall  soon  result  a 
separation  from  all  troubles  ; and  his  mind  be- 
ing thus  at  ease,  fixed  upon  one  object,  it  em- 
braceth  wisdom  from  all  sides.  The  man 
whose  heart  and  mind  are  not  at  rest  is  with- 
out wisdom  or  the  power  of  contemplation; 
who  doth  not  practice  reflection,  hath  no  calm ; 
and  how  can  a man  without  calm  obtain  happi- 


20 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


ness?  The  uncontrolled  heart,  following  the 
dictates  of  the  moving  passions,  snatcheth 
away  his  spiritual  knowledge,  as  the  storm  the 
bark  upon  the  raging  ocean.  Therefore,  O 
great  armed  one,  he  is  possessed  of  spiritual 
knowledge  whose  senses  are  withheld  from 
objects  of  sense.  What  is  night  to  those  who 
are  unenlightened  is  as  day  to  his  gaze ; what 
seems  as  day  is  known  to  him  as  night,  the 
night  of  ignorance.  Such  is  the  self-governed 
Sage ! 

“The  man  whose  desires  enter  his  heart, 
as  waters  run  into  the  unswelling  passive 
ocean,  which,  though  ever  full,  yet  does  not 
quit  its  bed,  obtaineth  happiness ; not  he  who 
lusteth  in  his  lusts. 

“The  man  who,  having  abandoned  all  de- 
sires, acts  without  covetousness,  selfishness, 
or  pride,  deeming  himself  neither  actor  nor 
possessor,  attains  to  rest.  This,  O son  of 
Pritha,  is  dependence  upon  the  Supreme  Spirit, 
and  he  who  possesseth  it  goeth  no  more  astray  ; 
having  obtained  it,  if  therein  established  at  the 
hour  of  death,  he  passeth  on  to  Nirvana  in  the 
Supreme.’’ 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagarad-Glta,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 


CHAPTER  SECOND 


21 


Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Second  Chapter,  by  name — 


DEVOTION  THROUGH  APPLICATION  TO  THE  SAN- 
KHYA  DOCTRINE. 


CHAPTER  III. 


DEVOTION  THROUGH  THE  RIGHT  PERFORMANCE 
OF  ACTION. 


ARJUNA: 

OF  according  to  thy  opinion,  O giver  of 
all  that  men  ask,  knowledge  is  superior 
to  the  practice  of  deeds,  why  then  dost 
thou  urge  me  to  engage  in  an  under- 
taking so  dreadful  as  this?  Thou,  as  it  were 
with  doubtful  speech,  confusest  my  reason ; 
wherefore  choose  one  method  amongst  them 
by  which  I may  obtain  happiness  and  explain 
it  unto  me.” 

KRISHNA: 

“It  hath  before  been  declared  by  me,  O 
sinless  one,  that  in  this  world  there  are  two 
modes  of  devotion:  that  of  those  who  follow 
the  Sankhya,  or  speculative  science,  which  is 
the  exercise  of  reason  in  contemplation;  and 
that  of  the  followers  of  the  Yoga  school,  which 
is  devotion  in  the  performance  of  action. 

“A  man  enjoyeth  not  freedom  from  action 


CHAPTER  THIRD 


23 


from  the  non-commencement  of  that  which 
he  hath  to  do ; nor  doth  he  obtain  happiness 
from  a total  abandonment  of  action.  No  one 
ever  resteth  a moment  inactive.  Every  man 
is  involuntarily  urged  to  act  by  the  qualities 
which  spring  from  nature.  He  who  remains 
inert,  restraining  the  senses  and  organs,  yet 
pondering  with  his  heart  upon  objects  of  sense, 
is  called  a false  pietist  of  bewildered  soul. 
But  he  who  having  subdued  all  his  passions 
performeth  with  his  active  faculties  all  the 
duties  of  life,  unconcerned  as  to  their  result, 
is  to  be  esteemed.  Do  thou  perform  the  prop- 
er actions : action  is  superior  to  inaction.  The 
journey  of  thy  mortal  frame  cannot  be  accom- 
plished by  inaction.  All  actions  performed 
other  than  as  sacrifice  unto  God  make  the  actor 
bound  by  action.  Abandon,  then,  O son  of 
Kunti,  all  selfish  motives,  and  in  action  per- 
form thy  duty  for  him  alone.  When  in  an- 
cient times  the  lord  of  creatures  had  formed 
mankind,  and  at  the  sarnie  time  appointed  his 
worship,  he  spoke  and  said:  ‘With  this  wor- 
ship, pray  for  increase,  and  let  it  be  for  you 
Kamaduk,  the  cow  of  plenty,  on  which  ye  shall 
depend  for  the  accomplishment  of  all  your 
wishes.  With  this  nourish  the  Gods,  that  the 


24 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


Gods  may  nourish  you ; thus  mutually  nourish- 
ing ye  shall  obtain  the  highest  felicity.  The 
Gods  being  nourished  by  worship  with  sacri- 
fice, will  grant  you  the  enjoyment  of  your 
wishes.  He  who  enjoyeth  what  hath  been 
given  unto  him  by  them,  and  offereth  not  a 
portion  unto  them,  is  even  as  a thief.’  But 
those  who  eat  not  but  what  is  left  of  the  offer- 
ings shall  be  purified  of  all  their  transgressions. 
Those  who  dress  their  meat  but  for  themselves 
eat  the  bread  of  sin,  being  themselves  sin  in- 
carnate. Beings  are  nourished  by  food,  food 
is  produced  by  rain,  rain  comes  from  sacrifice, 
and  sacrifice  is  performed  by  action.  Know 
that  action  comes  from  the  Supreme  Spirit 
who  is  one ; wherefore  the  all-pervading  Spirit 
is  at  all  times  present  in  the  sacrifice. 

“He  who,  sinfully  delighting  in  the  grati- 
fication of  his  passions,  doth  not  cause  this 
wheel  thus  already  set  in  motion  to  continue 
revolving,  liveth  in  vain,  O son  of  Pritha. 

“But  the  man  who  only  taketh  delight  in 
the  Self  within,  is  satisfied  with  that  and  con- 
tent with  that  alone,  hath  no  selfish  interest 
in  action.  He  hath  no  interest  either  in  that 
which  is  done  or  that  which  is  not  done;  and 
there  is  not,  in  all  things  which  have  been 


CHAPTER  THIRD 


25 


created,  any  object  on  which  he  may  place 
dependence.  Therefore  perform  thou  that 
which  thou  hast  to  do,  at  all  times  unmindful 
of  the  event;  for  the  man  who  doeth  that 
which  he  hath  to  do,  without  attachment  to 
the  result,  obtaineth  the  Supreme.  Even  by 
action  Janaka  and  others  attained  perfection. 
Even  if  the  good  of  mankind  only  is  con- 
sidered by  thee,  the  performance  of  thy  duty 
will  be  plain ; for  whatever  is  practised  by 
the  most  excellent  men,  that  is  also  practiced 
by  others.  The  world  follows  whatever  ex- 
ample they  set.  There  is  nothing,  O son  of 
Pritha,  in  the  three  regions  of  the  universe 
which  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  perform,  nor 
anything  possible  to  obtain  which  I have  not 
obtained ; and  yet  I am  constantly  in  action. 
If  I were  not  indefatigable  in  action,  all  men 
would  presently  follow  my  example,  O son 
of  Pritha.  If  I did  not  perform  actions  these 
creatures  would  perish ; I should  be  the  cause 
of  confusion  of  castes,  and  should  have  slain 
all  these  creatures.  O son  of  Bharata,  as 
the  ignorant  perform  the  duties  of  life  from 
the  hope  of  reward,  so  the  wise  man,  from 
the  wish  to  bring  the  world  to  duty  and  bene- 
fit mankind,  should  perform  his  actions  with- 


26 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


out  motives  of  interest.  He  should  not  create 
confusion  in  the  understandings  of  the  igno- 
rant, who  are  inclined  to  outward  works,  but 
by  being  himself  engaged  in  action  should 
cause  them  to  act  also.  All  actions  are  ef- 
fected by  the  qualities  of  nature.  The  man 
deluded  by  ignorance  thinks,  ‘I  am  the  act- 
or.’ But  he,  O strong-armed  one!  who  is 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  two  dis- 
tinctions of  cause  and  effect,  knowing  that 
the  qualities  act  only  in  the  qualities,  and  that 
the  Self  is  distinct  from  them,  is  not  attached 
in  action. 

“Those  who  have  not  this  knowledge  are 
interested  in  the  actions  thus  brought  about 
by  the  qualities ; and  he  who  is  perfectly  en- 
lightened should  not  unsettle  those  whose  dis- 
crimination is  weak  and  knowledge  incomplete, 
nor  cause  them  to  relax  from  their  duty. 

“Throwing  every  deed  on  me,  and  with  thy 
meditation  fixed  upon  the  Higher  Self,  resolve 
to  fight,  without  expectation,  devoid  of  ego- 
tism and  free  from  anguish. 

“Those  men  who  constantly  follow  this  my 
doctrine  without  reviling  it,  and  with  a firm 
faith,  shall  be  emancipated  even  by  actions; 
but  they  who  revile  it  and  do  not  follow  it 


CHAPTER  THIRD  27 

are  bewildered  in  regard  to  all  knowledge,  and 
perish,  being  devoid  of  discrimination. 

“But  the  wise  man  also  seeketh  for  that 
which  is  homogeneous  with  his  own  nature. 
All  creatures  act  according  to  their  natures; 
what,  then,  will  restraint  effect?  In  every 
purpose  of  the  senses  are  fixed  affection  and 
dislike.  A wise  man  should  not  fall  in  the 
power  of  these  two  passions,  for  they  are  the 
enemies  of  man.  It  is  better  to  do  one’s  own 
duty,  even  though  it  be  devoid  of  excellence, 
than  to  perform  another’s  duty  well.  It  is 
better  to  perish  in  the  performance  of  one’s 
own  duty ; the  duty  of  another  is  full  of  dan- 
ger.” 

ARJUNA: 

“By  what,  O descendant  of  Vrishni,  is  man 
propelled  to  commit  offences ; seemingly 
against  his  will  and  as  if  constrained  by  some 
secret  force?” 

KRISHNA: 

“It  is  lust  which  instigates  him.  It  is  pas- 
sion, sprung  from  the  quality  of  rajas;*  in- 

*Rajas  is  one  of  the  three  great  qualities ; the  driv- 
ing power  of  nature;  active  and  bad. 


2 8 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


satiable,  and  full  of  sin.  Know  this  to  be  the 
enemy  of  man  on  earth.  As  the  flame  is  sur- 
rounded by  smoke,  and  a mirror  by  rust,f  and 
as  the  womb  envelopes  the  foetus,  so  is  the 
universe  surrounded  by  this  passion.  By  this 
— the  constant  enemy  of  the  wise  man,  formed 
from  desire  which  rageth  like  fire  and  is  never 
to  be  appeased — is  discriminative  knowledge 
surrounded.  Its  empire  is  over  the  senses  and 
organs,  the  thinking  principle  and  the  dis- 
criminating faculty  also ; by  means  of  these  it 
cloudeth  discrimination  and  deludeth  the  Lord 
of  the  body.  Therefore,  O best  of  the  descend- 
ants of  Bharata,  at  the  very  outset  restraining 
thy  senses,  thou  shouldst  conquer  this  sin 
which  is  the  destroyer  of  knowledge  and  of 
spiritual  discernment. 

“The  senses  and  organs  are  esteemed  great, 
but  the  thinking  self  is  greater  than  they.  The 
discriminating  principle!  is  greater  than  the 
thinking  self,  and  that  which  is  greater  than 
the  discriminating  principle  is  He.§  Thus 
knowing  what  is  greater  than  the  discrimina- 
ting principle  and  strengthening  the  lower  by 

tThe  burnished  metal  mirrors  are  here  referred  to. 

JThe  discriminating  principle  is  Buddhi. 

§‘‘He,”  the  Supreme  Spirit,  the  true  Ego. 


CHAPTER  THIRD 


29 


the  Higher  Self,  do  thou  of  mighty  arms  slay 
this  foe  which  is  formed  from  desire  and  is 
difficult  to  seize.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Third  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  THROUGH  THE  RIGHT  PERFORMANCE 
OF  ACTION. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DEVOTION  THROUGH  SPIRITUAL  KNOWLEDGE. 


KRISHNA: 


HIS  exhaustless  doctrine  of  Yoga  I 
formerly  taught  unto  Vivaswat  ;* 
Vivaswat  communicated  it  to  Manuf 
and  Manu  made  it  known  unto  Iksh- 
waku;J  and  being  thus  transmitted  from  one 
unto  another  it  was  studied  by  the  Rajar- 
shees,§  until  at  length  in  the  course  of  time  the 
mighty  art  was  lost,  O harasser  of  thy  foes! 
It  is  even  the  same  exhaustless,  secret,  eter- 
nal doctrine  I have  this  day  communicated 
unto  thee  because  thou  art  my  devotee  and 
my  friend.” 


ARJUNA: 

“Seeing  that  thy  birth  is  posterior  to  the 

*Vivaswat,  the  sun,  first  manifestation  of  divine  wis- 
dom at  the  beginning  of  evolution. 

\Manu,  generic  title  for  the  reigning  spirit  of  the 
sensuous  universe ; the  present  one  being  Vaivashwata 
Manu. 

tlkshwaku,  the  founder  of  the  Indian  solar  dynasty. 
§Rajarshees,  Royal  Sages. 


CHAPTER  FOURTH 


31 


life  of  Ikshwaku,  how  am  I to  understand 
that  thou  wert  in  the  beginning  the  teacher  of 
this  doctrine?” 


KRISHNA: 

“Both  I and  thou  have  passed  through  many 
births,  O harasser  of  thy  foes!  Mine  are 
known  unto  me,  but  thou  knowest  not  of  thine. 

“Even  though  myself  unborn,  of  change- 
less essence,  and  the  lord  of  all  existence,  yet 
in  presiding  over  nature — which  is  mine — I 
am  born  but  through  my  own  maya*  the 
mystic  power  of  self-ideation,  the  eternal 
thought  in  the  eternal  mind.f  I produce  my- 
self among  creatures,  O son  of  Bharata,  when- 
ever there  is  a decline  of  virtue  and  an  in- 
surrection of  vice  and  injustice  in  the  world; 
and  thus  I incarnate  from  age  to  age  for  the 
preservation  of  the  just,  the  destruction  of  the 
wicked,  and  the  establishment  of  righteous- 
ness. Whoever,  O Arjuna,  knoweth  my  di- 
vine birth  and  actions  to  be  even  so  doth  not 

*Maya,  Illusion. 

tSee  also  the  Varalia  Upanishad  of  Krishna-Yajur 
Veda,  viz:  “The  whole  of  the  universe  is  evolved 

through  Sankalpa  [thought  or  ideation]  alone;  it  is 
only  through  Sankalpa  that  the  universe  retains  its 
appearance.” 


32 


BHAGAV  AD-GIT  A 


upon  quitting  his  mortal  frame  enter  into  an- 
other, for  he  entereth  into  me.  Many  who 
were  free  from  craving,  fear,  and  anger,  filled 
with  my  spirit,  and  who  depended  upon  me, 
having  been  purified  by  the  ascetic  fire  of 
knowledge,  have  entered  into  my  being.  In 
whatever  way  men  approach  me,  in  that  way 
do  I assist  them ; but  whatever  the  path  taken 
by  mankind,  that  path  is  mine,  O son  of  Pritha. 
Those  who  wish  for  success  to  their  works  in 
this  life  sacrifice  to  the  gods ; and  in  this  world 
success  from  their  actions  soon  cometh  to  pass. 

“Mankind  was  created  by  me  of  four  castes 
distinct  in  their  principles  and  in  their  duties 
according  to  the  natural  distribution  of  the 
actions  and  qualities.*  Know  me,  then,  al- 
though changeless  and  not  acting,  to  be  the 
author  of  this.  Actions  affect  me  not,  nor 
have  I any  expectations  from  the  fruits  of 
actions.  He  who  comprehendeth  me  to  be 
thus  is  not  held  by  the  bonds  of  action  to  re- 
birth. The  ancients  who  longed  for  eternal 
salvation,  having  discovered  this,  still  per- 

*This  refers  to  the  four  great  castes  of  India : the 
Brahmin,  the  soldier,  the  merchant,  and  the  servant. 
Such  division  is  plainly  evident  in  every  country,  even 
when  not  named  as  such. 


CHAPTER  FOURTH 


33 


formed  works.  Wherefore  perform  thou 
works  even  as  they  were  performed  by  the 
ancients  in  former  times. 

“Even  sages  have  been  deluded  as  to  what 
is  action  and  what  inaction ; therefore  I shall 
explain  to  thee  what  is  action  by  a knowledge 
of  which  thou  shalt  be  liberated  from  evil. 
One  must  learn  well  what  is  action  to  be  per- 
formed, what  is  not  to  be,  and  what  is  inac- 
tion. The  path  of  action  is  obscure.  That 
man  who  sees  inaction  in  action  and  action  in 
inaction  is  wise  among  men ; he  is  a true  de- 
votee and  a perfect  performer  of  all  action. 

“Those  who  have  spiritual  discrimination 
call  him  wise  whose  undertakings  are  all  free 
from  desire,  for  his  actions  are  consumed  in 
the  fire  of  knowledge.  He  abandoneth  the 
desire  to  see  a reward  for  his  actions,  is  free, 
contented,  and  upon  nothing  dependeth,  and 
although  engaged  in  action  he  really  doeth 
nothing;  he  is  not  solicitous  of  results,  with 
mind  and  body  subdued  and  being  above  en- 
joyment from  objects,  doing  with  the  body 
alone  the  acts  of  the  body,  he  does  not  sub- 
ject himself  to  rebirth.  He  is  contented  with 
whatever  he  receives  fortuitously,  is  free  from 
the  influence  of  ‘the  pairs  of  opposites’  and 


34 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


from  envy,  the  same  in  success  and  failure; 
even  though  he  act  he  is  not  bound  by  the 
bonds  of  action.  All  the  actions  of  such  a 
man  who  is  free  from  self-interest,  who  is 
devoted,  with  heart  set  upon  spiritual  knowl- 
edge, and  whose  acts  are  sacrifices  for  the 
sake  of  the  Supreme,  are  dissolved  and  left 
without  effect  on  him.  The  Supreme  Spirit 
is  the  act  of  offering,  the  Supreme  Spirit  is 
the  sacrificial  butter  offered  in  the  fire  which 
is  the  Supreme  Spirit,  and  unto  the  Supreme 
Spirit  goeth  he  who  maketh  the  Supreme 
Spirit  the  object  of  his  meditation  in  perform- 
ing his  actions. 

“Some  devotees  give  sacrifice  to  the  Gods, 
while  others,  lighting  the  subtler  fire  of  the  Su- 
preme Spirit  offer  up  themselves ; still  others 
make  sacrifice  with  the  senses,  beginning  with 
hearing,  in  the  fire  of  self-restraint,  and  some 
give  up  all  sense-delighting  sounds,  and  others 
again,  illuminated  by  spiritual  knowledge,  sac- 
rifice all  the  functions  of  the  senses  and  vitality 
in  the  fire  of  devotion  through  self-constraint. 
There  are  also  those  who  perform  sacrifice  by 
wealth  given  in  alms,  by  mortification,  by  de- 
votion, and  by  silent  study.  Some  sacrifice 
the  up-breathing  in  the  down-breathing  and 


CHAPTER  FOURTH 


35 


the  down-breathing  in  the  up-breathing  by- 
blocking  up  the  channels  of  inspiration  and 
expiration ; and  others  by  stopping  the  move- 
ments of  both  the  life  breaths ; still  others  by 
abstaining  from  food  sacrifice  life  in  their  life. 

“All  these  different  kinds  of  worshippers 
are  by  their  sacrifices  purified  from  their  sins; 
but  they  who  partake  of  the  perfection  of 
spiritual  knowledge  arising  from  such  sacri- 
fices pass  into  the  eternal  Supreme  Spirit.  But 
for  him  who  maketh  no  sacrifices  there  is  no 
part  nor  lot  in  this  world ; how  then  shall  he 
share  in  the  other,  O best  of  the  Kurus? 

“All  these  sacrifices  of  so  many  kinds  are 
displayed  in  the  sight  of  God ; know  that  they 
all  spring  from  action,  and,  comprehending 
this,  thou  shalt  obtain  an  eternal  release.  O 
harasser  of  thy  foes,  the  sacrifice  through 
spiritual  knowledge  is  superior  to  sacrifice 
made  with  material  things ; every  action  with- 
out exception  is  comprehended  in  spiritual 
knowledge,  O son  of  Pritha.  Seek  this  wis- 
dom by  doing  service,  by  strong  search,  by 
questions,  and  by  humility;  the  wise  who  see 
the  truth  will  communicate  it  unto  thee,  and 
knowing  which  thou  shalt  never  again  fall  into 
error,  O son  of  Bharata.  By  this  knowledge 


36  BHAGAVAD-GITA 

thou  shalt  see  all  things  and  creatures  what- 
soever in  thyself  and  then  in  me.  Even  if 
thou  wert  the  greatest  of  all  sinners,  thou 
shalt  be  able  to  cross  over  all  sins  in  the  bark 
of  spiritual  knowledge.  As  the  natural  fire, 
O Arjuna,  reduceth  fuel  to  ashes,  so  does  the 
fire  of  knowledge  reduce  all  actions  to  ashes. 
There  is  no  purifier  in  this  world  to  be  com- 
pared to  spiritual  knowledge;  and  he  who  is 
perfected  in  devotion  findeth  spiritual  knowl- 
edge springing  up  spontaneously  in  himself 
in  the  progress  of  time.  The  man  who  re- 
strained the  senses  and  organs  and  hath  faith 
obtaineth  spiritual  knowledge,  and  having  ob- 
tained it  he  soon  reached  supreme  tranquil- 
ity; but  the  ignorant,  those  full  of  doubt  and 
without  faith,  are  lost.  The  man  of  doubt- 
ful mind  hath  no  happiness  either  in  this  world 
or  in  the  next  or  in  any  other.  No  actions 
bind  that  man  who  through  spiritual  dis- 
crimination hath  renounced  action  and  cut 
asunder  all  doubt  by  knowledge,  O despiser 
of  wealth.  Wherefore,  O son  of  Bharata,  hav- 
ing cut  asunder  with  the  sword  of  spiritual 
knowledge  this  doubt  which  existed  in  thy 
heart,  engage  in  the  performance  of  action. 
Arise !” 


CHAPTER  FOURTH 


37 


Thus  in  the  U panishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Fourth  Chapter,  by  name — 


DEVOTION  THROUGH  SPIRITUAL  KNOWLEDGE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  RENUNCIATION  OF  ACTION. 


ARJUNA: 


T one  time,  O Krishna,  thou  praisest 
the  renunciation  of  action,  and  yet 
again  its  right  performance.  Tell  me 
with  certainty  which  of  the  two  is 


better.” 


KRISHNA: 

“Renunciation  of  action  and  devotion 
through  action  are  both  means  of  final  eman- 
cipation, but  of  these  two  devotion  through 
action  is  better  than  renunciation.  He  is  con- 
sidered to  be  an  ascetic*  who  seeks  nothing 
and  nothing  rejects,  being  free  from  the  in- 
fluence of  the  ‘pairs  of  opposites, ’f  O thou 
of  mighty  arms ; without  trouble  he  is  released 
from  the  bonds  forged  by  action.  Children 
only  and  not  the  wise  speak  of  renunciation 
of  action^  and  of  right  performance  of  ac- 

•That  is,  one  who  has  really  renounced. 
tThat  Is,  cold  and  heat,  pleasure  and  pain,  misery 
and  happiness,  etc. 
tSankhya  school. 


CHAPTER  FIFTH 


39 


tion*  as  being  different.  He  who  perfectly 
practices  the  one  receives  the  fruits  of  both, 
and  the  placef  which  is  gained  by  the  re- 
nouncer  of  action  is  also  attained  by  him  who 
is  devoted  in  action.  That  man  seeth  with 
clear  sight  who  seeth  that  the  Sankhya  and 
the  Yoga  doctrines  are  identical.  But  to  at- 
tain to  true  renunciation  of  action  without 
devotion  through  action  is  difficult,  O thou  of 
mighty  arms ; while  the  devotee  who  is  en- 
gaged in  the  right  practice  of  his  duties  ap- 
proacheth  the  Supreme  Spirit  in  no  long  time. 
The  man  of  purified  heart,  having  his  body 
fully  controlled,  his  senses  restrained,  and  for 
'whom  the  only  self  is  the  Self  of  all  crea- 
tures, is  not  tainted  although  performing  ac- 
tions. The  devotee  who  knows  the  divine 
truth  thinketh  ‘I  am  doing  nothing’  in  seeing, 
hearing,  touching,  smelling,  eating,  moving, 
sleeping,  breathing;  even  when  speaking,  let- 
ting go  or  taking,  opening  or  closing  his  eyes, 
he  sayeth,  ‘the  senses  and  organs  move  by  nat- 
ural impulse  to  their  appropriate  objects.’ 
Whoever  in  acting  dedicates  his  actions  to  the 
Supreme  Spirit  and  puts  aside  all  selfish  in- 

*Yoga.  school. 

tNirvana,  or  emancipation. 


40 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


terest  in  their  result  is  untouched  by  sin,  even 
as  the  leaf  of  the  lotus  is  unaffected  by  the 
waters.  The  truly  devoted,  for  the  purifica- 
tion of  the  heart,  perform  actions  with  their 
bodies,  their  minds,  their  understanding,  and 
their  senses,  putting  away  all  self-interest.  The 
man  who  is  devoted  and  not  attached  to  the 
fruit  of  his  actions  obtains  tranquility;  whilst 
he  who  through  desire  has  attachment  for  the 
fruit  of  action  is  bound  down  thereby.*  The 
self-restrained  sage  having  with  his  heart  re- 
nounced all  actions,  dwells  at  rest  in  the  ‘nine 
gate  city  of  his  abode, ’f  neither  acting  nor 
causing  to  act.J 

“The  Lord  of  the  world  creates  neither  the 
faculty  of  acting,  nor  actions,  nor  the  con- 
nection between  action  and  its  fruits;  but  na- 
ture prevaileth  in  these.  The  Lord  receives 
no  man’s  deeds,  be  they  sinful  or  full  of  mer- 

*This  refers  not  only  to  the  effect  on  the  man  now. 
In  life,  but  also  to  the  “binding  to  rebirth”  which  such 
action  causes. 

fThat  is,  the  body  as  having  nine  openings  through 
which  impressions  are  received,  viz:  eyes,  ears,  mouth, 
nose,  etc. 

tThe  Sage  who  has  united  himself  to  true  conscious- 
ness remains  in  the  body  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 


CHAPTER  FIFTH 


41 


it.*  The  truth  is  obscured  by  that  which  is 
not  true,  and  therefore  all  creatures  are  led 
astray.  But  in  those  for  whom  knowledge  of 
the  true  Self  has  dispersed  ignorance,  the  Su- 
preme, as  if  lighted  by  the  sun,  is  revealed. 
Those  whose  souls  are  in  the  Spirit,  whose 
asylum  is  in  it,  who  are  intent  on  it  and  puri- 
fied by  knowledge  from  all  sins,  go  to  that 
place  from  which  there  is  no  return. 

“The  illuminated  sage  regards  with  equal 
mind  an  illuminated,  selfless  Brahmin,  a cow, 
an  elephant,  a dog,  and  even  an  outcast  who 
eats  the  flesh  of  dogs.  Those  who  thus  pre- 
serve an  equal  mind  gain  heaven  even  in  this 
life,  for  the  Supreme  is  free  from  sin  and  equal 
minded ; therefore  they  rest  in  the  Supreme 
Spirit.  The  man  who  knoweth  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  who  is  not  deluded,  and  who  is  fixed 
on  him,  doth  not  rejoice  at  obtaining  what  is 
pleasant,  nor  grieve  when  meeting  what  is  un- 
pleasant. He  whose  heart  is  not  attached  to 

*In  order  to  understand  this  clearly  it  is  necessary 
to  remember  that  in  the  Vedic  philosophy  it  is  held 
that  all  actions,  whether  they  be  good  or  bad,  are 
brought  about  by  the  three  great  qualities — sattva, 
rajas,  tamas — inherent  in  all  throughout  evolution.  This 
is  set  forth  at  length  in  the  7th  Chapter,  and  in  Chap- 
ter 13  the  manner  in  which  those  qualities  show  them- 
selves is  fully  given. 


42 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


objects  of  sense  finds  pleasure  within  himself, 
and,  through  devotion,  united  with  the  Su- 
preme, enjoys  imperishable  bliss.  For  those 
enjoyments  which  arise  through  the  contact  of 
the  senses  with  external  objects  are  wombs  of 
pain,  since  they  have  a beginning  and  an  end ; 
O son  of  Kunti,  the  wise  man  delighteth  not 
in  these.  He  who,  while  living  in  this  w.orld 
and  before  the  liberation  of  the  soul  from  the 
body,  can  resist  the  impulse  arising  from  de- 
sire and  anger  is  a devotee  and  blessed.  The 
man  who  is  happy  within  himself,  who  is 
illuminated  within,  is  a devotee,  and  partak- 
ing of  the  nature  of  the  Supreme  Spirit,  he  is 
merged  in  it.  Such  illuminated  sages  whose 
sins  are  exhausted,  who  are  free  from  delu- 
sion, who  have  their  senses  and  organs  under 
control,  and  devoted  to  the  good  of  all  crea- 
tures, obtain  assimilation  with  the  Supreme 
Spirit.*  Assimilation  with  the  Supreme 
Spirit  is  on  both  sides  of  death  for  those  who 
are  free  from  desire  and  anger,  temperate,  of 
thoughts  restrained ; and  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  true  Self. 

“The  anchorite  who  shutteth  his  placid  soul 
away  from  all  sense  of  touch,  with  gaze  fixed 

•That  is,  direct  knowledge  of  Self. 


CHAPTER  FIFTH 


43 


between  his  brows ; who  maketh  the  breath 
to  pass  through  both  his  nostrils  with  evenness 
alike  in  inspiration  and  expiration,  whose 
senses  and  organs  together  with  his  heart  and 
understanding  are  under  control,  and  who  hath 
set  his  heart  upon  liberation  and  is  ever  free 
from  desire  and  anger,  is  emancipated  from 
birth  and  death  even  in  this  life.  Knowing 
that  I,  the  great  Lord  of  all  worlds,  am  the  en- 
joyer  of  all  sacrifices  and  penances  and  the 
friend  of  all  creatures,  he  shall  obtain  me  and 
be  blessed.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Glta,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Fifth  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  RENUNCIATION  OF  AC- 
TION. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  SELF-RESTRAINT. 


KRISHNA: 


¥ 


E who,  unattached  to  the  fruit  of  his 
actions,  performeth  such  actions  as 
should  be  done  is  both  a renouncer* 
of  action  and  a devoteef  of  right  ac- 
tion ; not  he  who  liveth  without  kindling  the 
sacrificial  fire  and  without  ceremonies.^  Know, 
O son  of  Pandu,  that  what  they  call  Sannyas 
or  a forsaking  of  action  is  the  same  as  Yoga 
or  the  practice  of  devotion.  No  one  without 
having  previously  renounced  all  intentions  can 
be  devoted.  Action  is  said  to  be  the  means  by 
which  the  wise  man  who  is  desirous  of  mount- 
ing to  meditation  may  reach  thereto ; so  ces- 
sation from  action  is  said  to  be  the  means  for 
him  who  hath  reached  to  meditation.  When 
he  hath  renounced  all  intentions  and  is  devoid 
of  attachment  to  action  in  regard  to  objects  of 


*A  Sannayasi. 
tA  Yogi. 

iThose  ceremonies  prescribed  by  the  Brahmanical 
law. 


CHAPTER  SIXTH 


45 


sense,  then  he  is  called  one  who  hath  ascended 
to  meditation.  He  should  raise  the  self  by 
the  Self ; let  him  not  suffer  the  Self  to  be  low- 
ered ; for  Self  is  the  friend  of  self,  and,  in 
like  manner,  self  is  its  own  enemy.*  Self  is 
the  friend  of  the  man  who  is  self-conquered; 
so  self  like  a foe  hath  enmity  to  him  who  is 
not  self-conquered.  The  Self  of  the  man  who 
is  self-subdued  and  free  from  desire  and  an- 
ger is  intent  on  the  Supreme  Self  in  heat  and 
cold,  in  pain  and  pleasure,  in  honor  and  igno- 
miny. The  man  who  hath  spiritual  knowl- 
edge and  discernment,  who  standeth  upon  the 
pinnacle,  and  hath  subdued  the  senses,  to 
whom  gold  and  stone  are  the  same,  is  said  to 
be  devoted.  And  he  is  esteemed  among  all 
who,  whether  amongst  his  friends  and  com- 
panions, in  the  midst  of  enemies  or  those  who 
stand  aloof  or  remain  neutral,  with  those  who 
love  and  those  who  hate,  and  in  the  company 
of  sinners  or  the  righteous,  is  of  equal  mind. 

“He  who  has  attained  to  meditation  should 
constantly  strive  to  stay  at  rest  in  the  Su- 

*In  this  play  upon  "self”  the  Higher  and  the  lower 
self  are  meant,  in  that  the  lower  is  the  enemy  of  the 
Higher  through  its  resistance  to  true  development ; and 
the  lower  self  is  at  the  same  time  the  enemy  of  its 
own  best  interests  through  its  downward  tendency. 


46 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


preme,  remaining  in  solitude  and  seclusion, 
having  his  body  and  his  thoughts  under  con- 
trol, without  possessions  and  free  from  hope. 
He  should  in  an  undefiled  spot  place  his  seat, 
firm,  neither  too  high  nor  too  low,  and  made 
of  kusa  grass  which  is  covered  with  a skin 
and  a cloth.*  There,  for  the  self’s  purification 
he  should  practice  meditation  with  his  mind 
fixed  on  one  point,  the  modifications  of  the 
thinking  principle  controlled  and  the  action 
of  the  senses  and  organs  restrained.  Keep- 
ing his  body,  head,  and  neck  firm  and  erect, 
with  mind  determined,  and  gaze  directed  to 
the  tip  of  his  nose  without  looking  in  any  di- 
rection, with  heart  at  peace  and  free  from  fear, 
the  Yogee  should  remain,  settled  in  the  vow 
of  a Brahmacharya,  his  thoughts  controlled, 
and  heart  fixed  on  me.  The  devotee  of  con- 
trolled mind  who  thus  always  bringeth  his 
heart  to  rest  in  the  Supreme  reacheth  that 

•These  directions  are  for  those  hermits  who  have  re- 
tired from  the  world.  Many  of  the  translators  have 
variously  construed  the  text ; one  reads  that  the  devotee 
has  “only  skin  and  sheet  to  cover  him  and  grass  to  lie 
upon;”  another  that  “his  goods  are  a cloth  and  deer- 
skin and  kusa  grass.”  “Those  who  know"  say  that 
this  is  a description  of  a magnetically  arranged  seat 
and  that  kusa  grass  is  laid  on  the  ground,  the  skin 
on  the  grass,  and  the  cloth  on  the  skin.  Philological 
discussion  will  never  decide  the  point. 


CHAPTER  SIXTH 


47 


tranquility,  the  supreme  assimilation  with  me. 

“This  divine  discipline,  Arjuna,  is  not  to  be 
attained  by  the  man  who  eateth  more  than 
enough  or  too  little,  nor  by  him  who  hath  a 
habit  of  sleeping  much,  nor  by  him  who  is 
given  to  overwatching.  The  meditation  which 
destroyeth  pain  is  produced  in  him  who  is 
moderate  in  eating  and  in  recreation,  of  mod- 
erate exertion  in  his  actions,  and  regulated 
in  sleeping  and  waking.  When  the  man,  so 
living,  centers  his  heart  in  the  true  Self  and 
is  exempt  from  attachment  to  all  desires,  he 
is  said  to  have  attained  to  Yoga.  Of  the 
sage  of  self-centred  heart,  at  rest  and  free 
from  attachment  to  desires,  the  simile  is 
recorded,  ‘as  a lamp  which  is  sheltered  from 
the  wind  flickereth  not.’  When  regulated  by 
the  practice  of  yoga  and  at  rest,  seeing  the 
self  by  the  self,  he  is  contented;  when  he 
becometh  acquainted  with  that  boundless  bliss 
which  is  not  connected  with  objects  of  the 
senses,  and  being  where  he  is  not  moved  from 
the  reality  ;*  having  gained  which  he  consid- 
ered no  other  superior  to  it,  and  in  which,  be- 


*“Reality,”  Nirvana  and  also  complete  realization  of 
the  True  and  the  disappearance  of  the  illusion  as  to 
objects  and  separateness. 


48 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


ing  fixed,  he  is  not  moved  even  by  the  greatest 
grief ; know  that  this  disconnection  from  union 
with  pain  is  distinguished  as  yoga,  spiritual 
union  or  devotion,  which  is  to  be  striven  after 
by  a man  with  faith  and  steadfastly. 

“When  he  hath  abandoned  every  desire  that 
ariseth  from  the  imagination  and  subdued  with 
the  mind  the  senses  and  organs  which  impel 
to  action  in  every  direction,  being  possessed 
of  patience,  he  by  degrees  finds  rest;  and, 
having  fixed  his  mind  at  rest  in  the  true  Self, 
he  should  think  of  nothing  else.  To  what- 
soever object  the  inconstant  mind  goeth  out 
he  should  subdue  it,  bring  it  back,  and  place 
it  upon  the  Spirit.  Supreme  bliss  surely 
cometh  to  the  sage  whose  mind  is  thus  at 
peace;  whose  passions  and  desires  are  thus 
subdued ; who  is  thus  in  the  true  Self  and  free 
from  sin.  He  who  is  thus  devoted  and  free 
from  sin  obtaineth  without  hindrance  the  high- 
est bliss — union  with  the  Supreme  Spirit.  The 
man  who  is  endued  with  this  devotion  and 
who  seeth  the  unity  of  all  things  perceiveth 
the  Supreme  Soul  in  all  things  and  all  things 
in  the  Supreme  Soul.  He  who  seeth  me  in 
all  things  and  all  things  in  me  looseneth  not 


CHAPTER  SIXTH 


49 


his  hold  on  me  and  I forsake  him  not.  And 
whosoever,  believing  in  spiritual  unity,  wor- 
shipped me  who  am  in  all  things,  dwelled 
with  me  in  whatsoever  condition  he  may  be. 
He,  O Arjuna,  who  by  the  similitude  found 
in  himself  seeth  but  one  essence  in  all  things, 
whether  they  be  evil  or  good,  is  considered 
to  be  the  most  excellent  devotee.” 


ARJUNA: 

“O  slayer  of  Madhu,*  on  account  of  de 
restlessness  of  the  mind,  I do  not  perceive 
any  possibility  of  steady  continuance  in  this 
yoga  of  equanimity  which  thou  hast  declared. 
For  indeed,  O Krishna,  the  mind  is  full  of 
agitation,  turbulent,  strong,  and  obstinate.  I 
believe  the  restraint  of  it  to  be  as  difficult  as 
that  of  the  wind.” 

KRISHNA: 

“Without  doubt,  O thou  of  mighty  arms, 
the  mind  is  restless  and  hard  to  restrain;  but 
it  may  be  restrained,  O son  of  Kunti,  by  prac- 
tice and  absence  of  desire.  Yet  in  my  opinion 
this  divine  discipline  called  yoga  is  very  diffi- 

* Madhu ; a daitya  or  demon  slain  by  Krishna,  and 
representing  the  quality  of  passion  in  nature. 


50 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


cult  for  one  who  hath  not  his  soul  in  his  own 
control ; yet  it  may  be  acquired  through  proper 
means  and  by  one  who  is  assiduous  and  con- 
trolleth  his  heart.” 


ARJUNA: 

“What  end,  O Krishna,  doth  that  man  at- 
tain who,  although  having  faith,  hath  not  at- 
tained to  perfection  in  his  devotion  because 
his  unsubdued  mind  wandered  from  the  dis- 
cipline? Doth  he,  fallen  from  both,*  like  a 
broken  cloud  without  any  support, f become 
destroyed,  O strong-armed  one,  being  deluded 
in  the  path  of  the  Supreme  Spirit?  Thou, 
Krishna,  shouldst  completely  dispel  this  doubt 
for  me,  for  there  is  none  other  to  be  found 
able  to  remove  it.” 

KRISHNA: 

“Such  a man,  O son  of  Pritha,  doth  not 
perish  here  or  hereafter.  For  never  to  an  evil 

•“From  both"  here  means  the  good  Karma  resulting 
from  good  deeds  and  spiritual  knowledge  acquired 
through  yoga,  or  heaven  and  emancipation. 

t “Without  any  support”  refers  to  the  support  or 
sanction  contained  in  the  Brahmanical  law  in  its  prom- 
ises to  him  who  keeps  it,  for  he  who  practices  yoga  is 
not  abiding  by  the  promises  of  the  law,  which  are  for 
those  who  obey  that  law  and  refrain  from  yoga. 


CHAPTER  SIXTH 


51 


place  goeth  one  who  doeth  good.  The  man 
whose  devotion  has  been  broken  off  by  death 
goeth  to  the  regions  of  the  righteous,*  where 
he  dwells  for  an  immensity  of  years  and  is 
then  born  again  on  earth  in  a pure  and  for- 
tunate family;f  or  even  in  a family  of  those 
who  are  spiritually  illuminated.  But  such  a 
rebirth  into  this  life  as  this  last  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  obtain.  Being  thus  born  again  he  comes 
in  contact  with  the  knowledge  which  belonged 
to  him  in  his  former  body,  and  from  that  time 
he  struggles  more  diligently  towards  perfec- 
tion, O son  of  Kuru.  For  even  unwittingly, 
by  reason  of  that  past  practice,  he  is  led  and 
works  on.  Even  if  only  a mere  enquirer,  he 
reaches  beyond  the  word  of  the  Vedas.  But 
the  devotee  who,  striving  with  all  his  might, 
obtaineth  perfection  because  of  efforts  con- 
tinued through  many  births,  goeth  to  the  su- 
preme goal.  The  man  of  meditation  as  thus 
described  is  superior  to  the  man  of  penance 
and  to  the  man  of  learning  and  also  to  the  man 
of  action ; wherefore,  O Arjuna,  resolve  thou 
to  become  a man  of  meditation.  But  of  all 
devotees  he  is  considered  by  me  as  the  most 

♦That  is,  Devachan. 

fMahusudana  says  this  means  in  the  family  of  a king 
or  emperor. 


52 


B H AG  A V AD-GIT  A 


devoted  who,  with  heart  fixed  on  me,  full  of 
faith,  worships  me.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Sixth  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  SELF-RESTRAINT. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  SPIRITUAL  DISCERNMENT. 


KRISHNA: 


EAR,  O son  of  Pritha,  how  with  heart 
fixed  on  me,  practicing  meditation 
and  taking  me  as  thy  refuge,  thou  shalt 
know  me  completely.  I will  instruct 
thee  fully  in  this  knowledge  and  in  its  real- 
ization, which,  having  learned,  there  remains 
nothing  else  to  be  known. 

“Among  thousands  of  mortals  a single  one 
perhaps  strives  for  perfection,  and  among 
those  so  striving  perhaps  a single  one  knows 
me  as  I am.  Earth,  water,  fire,  air,  and  akasa, 
Manas,  Buddhi,  and  Ahankara  is  the  eight- 
fold division  of  my  nature.  It  is  inferior; 
know  that  my  superior  nature  is  different  and 
is  the  knower ; by  it  the  universe  is  sustained ; 
learn  that  the  whole  of  creation  springs  from 
this  too  as  from  a womb;  I am  the  cause,  I 
am  the  production  and  the  dissolution  of  the 
whole  universe.  There  is  none  superior  to  me, 
O conqueror  of  wealth,  and  all  things  hang  on 


54 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


me  as  precious  gems  upon  a string.  I am  the 
taste  in  water,  O son  of  Kunti,  the  light  in  the 
sun  and  moon,  the  mystic  syllable  OM  in  all 
the  Vedas,  sound  in  space,  the  masculine  es- 
sence in  men,  the  sweet  smell  in  the  earth,  and 
the  brightness  in  the  fire.  In  all  creatures  I 
am  the  life,  and  the  power  of  concentration  in 
those  whose  minds  are  on  the  spirit.  Know 
me,  O son  of  Pritha,  as  the  eternal  seed  of  all 
creatures.  I am  the  wisdom*  of  the  wise  and 
the  strength  of  the  strong.  And  I am  the 
power  of  the  strong  who  in  action  are  free 
from  desire  and  longing;  in  all  creatures  I am 
desire  regulated  by  moral  fitness.  Know  also 
that  the  dispositions  arising  from  the  three 
qualities,  sattva,  rajas,  and  tamos,  are  from 
me ; they  are  in  me,  but  I am  not  in  them.  The 
whole  world,  being  deluded  by  these  disposi- 
tions which  are  born  of  the  three  qualities, 
knoweth  not  me  distinct  from  them,  supreme, 
imperishable.  For  this  my  divine  illusive 
power,  acting  through  the  natural  qualities,  is 
difficult  to  surmount,  and  those  only  can  sur- 
mount it  who  have  recourse  to  me  alone.  The 
wicked  among  men,  the  deluded  and  the  low- 
minded,  deprived  of  spiritual  perception  by 

*This  means  here  the  principle  "Buddhi.” 


CHAPTER  SEVENTH 


55 


this  illusion,  and  inclining  toward  demoniacal 
dispositions,  do  not  have  recourse  to  me. 

“Four  classes  of  men  who  work  righteous- 
ness worship  me,  O Arjuna;  those  who  are 
afflicted,  the  searchers  for  truth,  those  who 
desire  possessions,  and  the  wise,  O son  of 
Bharata.  Of  these  the  best  is  the  one  pos- 
sessed of  spiritual  knowledge,  who  is  always 
devoted  to  me.  I am  extremely  dear  to  the 
wise  man,  and  he  is  dear  unto  me.  Excel- 
lent indeed  are  all  these,  but  the  spiritually 
wise  is  verily  myself,  because  with  heart  at 
peace  he  is  upon  the  road  that  leadeth  to  the 
highest  path,  which  is  even  myself.  After 
many  births  the  spiritually  wise  findeth  me 
as  the  Vasudeva  who  is  all  this,  for  such  an 
one  of  great  soul*  is  difficult  to  meet.  Those 
who  through  diversity  of  desires  are  deprived 
of  spiritual  wisdom  adopt  particular  rites  sub- 
ordinated to  their  own  natures,  and  worship 
other  Gods.  In  whatever  form  a devotee  de- 
sires with  faith  to  worship,  it  is  I alone  who 
inspire  him  with  constancy  therein,  and  de- 
pending on  that  faith  he  seeks  the  propitia- 
tion of  that  God,  obtaining  the  object  of  his 

♦In  the  original  the  word  is  “Mahatma.” 


56 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


wishes  as  is  ordained  by  me  alone.  But  the 
reward  of  such  short-sighted  men  is  tempo- 
rary. Those  who  worship  the  Gods  go  to  the 
Gods,  and  those  who  worship  me  come  unto 
me.  The  ignorant,  being  unacquainted  with 
my  supreme  condition  which  is  superior  to  all 
things  and  exempt  from  decay,  believe  me  who 
am  unmanifested  to  exist  in  a visible  form. 
Enveloped  by  my  magic  illusion  I am  not 
visible  to  the  world ; therefore  the  world  doth 
not  recognize  me  the  unborn  and  exhaustless. 
I know,  O Arjuna,  all  creatures  that  have 
been,  that  are  present,  as  well  as  all  that  shall 
hereafter  be,  but  no  one  knows  me.  At  the 
time  of  birth,  O son  of  Bharata,  all  beings 
fall  into  error  by  reason  of  the  delusion  of 
the  opposites  which  springs  from  liking  and 
disliking,  O harasser  of  thy  foes.  But  those 
men  of  righteous  lives  whose  sins  have  ceased, 
being  free  from  this  delusion  of  the  ‘pairs  of 
opposites,’  firmly  settled  in  faith,  worship  me. 
They  who  depend  on  me,  and  labor  for  de- 
liverance from  birth  and  death  know  Brahma, 
the  whole  Adhyatma,  and  all  Karma.  Those 
who  rest  in  me,  knowing  me  to  be  the  Adhi- 
bhuta,  the  Adhidaivata,  and  the  Adhiyajna, 
know  me  also  at  the  time  of  death.” 


CHAPTER  SEVENTH 


57 


Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
j Bhagavad-Gltd,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Seventh  Chapter,  by  name — 


DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  SPIRITUAL  DISCERN- 
MENT. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  OMNIPRESENT  SPIRIT  NAMED  AS  OM 


ARJUNA: 

HAT  is  that  Brahman,  what  is  Adhy- 
atma,  and  what,  O best  of  men!  is 
Karma  ? What  also  is  Adhibhuta,  and 
what  Adhidaivata?  Who  too  is  Adhi- 
yajna  here,  in  this  body,  and  how  therein,  O 
slayer  of  Madhu?  Tell  me  also  how  men 
who  are  fixed  in  meditation  are  to  know  thee 
at  the  hour  of  death?” 

KRISHNA: 

“Brahman  the  Supreme  is  the  exhaustless. 
Adhyatma  is  the  name  of  my  being  manifest- 
ing as  the  Individual  Self.  Karma  is  the 
emanation  which  causes  the  existence  and  re- 
production of  creatures.*  Adhibhuta  is  the 
Supreme  Spirit  dwelling  in  all  elemental  na- 
ture through  the  mysterious  power  of  nature's 
illusion.  Adhidaivata  is  the  Purusha,  the 

•Karma  here  is,  so  to  say,  the  action  of  the  Supreme 
which  is  seen  in  manifestation  throughout  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  objective  worlds. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTH 


59 


Spiritual  Person,  and  Adhiyajna  is  myself  in 
this  body,  O best  of  embodied  men.  Whoever 
at  the  hour  of  death  abandoneth  the  body, 
fixed  in  meditation  upon  me,  without  doubt 
goeth  to  me.  Whoso  in  consequence  of  con- 
stant meditation  on  any  particular  form  think- 
eth  upon  it  when  quitting  his  mortal  shape, 
even  to  that  doth  he  go,  O son  of  Kunti. 
Therefore  at  all  times  meditate  only  on  me 
and  fight.  Thy  mind  and  Buddhi  being  placed 
on  me  alone,  thou  shalt  without  doubt  come 
to  me.  The  man  whose  heart  abides  in  me 
alone,  wandering  to  no  other  object,  shall 
also  by  meditation  on  the  Supreme  Spirit  go 
to  it,  O son  of  Pritha.  Whosoever  shall  medi- 
tate upon  the  All-Wise  which  is  without  be- 
ginning, the  Supreme  Ruler,  the  smallest  of 
the  small,  the  Supporter  of  all,  whose  form 
is  incomprehensible,  bright  as  the  sun  beyond 
the  darkness ; with  mind  undeviating,  united 
to  devotion,  and  by  the  power  of  meditation 
concentrated  at  the  hour  of  death,  with  his 
vital  powers  placed  between  the  eyebrows,  at- 
tains to  that  Supreme  Divine  Spirit. 

“I  will  now  make  known  to  thee  that  path 
which  the  learned  in  the  Vedas  call  inde- 


6o 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


structible,  into  which  enter  those  who  are  free 
from  attachments,  and  is  followed  by  those 
desirous  of  leading  the  life  of  a Brahma- 
charya*  laboring  for  salvation.  He  who 
closeth  all  the  doors  of  his  senses,  imprison- 
eth  his  mind  in  his  heart,  fixeth  his  vital  pow- 
ers in  his  head,  standing  firm  in  meditation, 
repeating  the  monosyllable  OM,  and  thus  con- 
tinues when  he  is  quitting  the  body,  goeth  to 
the  supreme  goal.  He  who,  with  heart  un- 
diverted to  any  other  object,  meditates  con- 
stantly and  through  the  whole  of  life  on  me 
shall  surely  attain  to  me,  O son  of  Pritha. 
Those  great-souled  ones  who  have  attained  to 
supreme  perfection  come  unto  me  and  no 
more  incur  rebirths  rapidly  revolving,  which 
are  mansions  of  pain  and  sorrow. 

“All  worlds  up  to  that  of  Brahman  are 
subject  to  rebirth  again  and  again,  but  they, 
O son  of  Kunti,  who  reach  to  me  have  no  re- 
birth. Those  who  are  acquainted  with  day 
and  nightf  know  that  the  day  of  Brahma  is 

•Brahma  chary  a vow  is  a vow  to  live  a life  of  re- 
ligious study  and  asceticism — "following  Brahma.” 

tThis  refers  to  those  who  have  acquired  knowledge  of 
the  ultimate  divisions  of  time,  a power  which  is  as- 
cribed to  the  perfect  yogi  in  Patanjali’s  Yoga  Philos- 
ophy. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTH  6l 

a thousand  revolutions  of  the  yugas  and  that 
his  night  extendeth  for  a thousand  more.  At 
the  coming  on  of  that  day  all  things  issue  forth 
from  the  unmanifesited  into  manifestation,  so 
on  the  approach  of  that  night  they  merge 
again  into  the  unmanifested.  This  collection 
of  existing  things  having  thus  come  forth,  is 
dissolved  at  the  approach  of  the  night,  O son 
of  Pritha ; and  now  again  on  the  coming  of  the 
day  it  emanates  spontaneously.  But  there  is 
that  which  upon  the  dissolution  of  all  things 
else  is  not  destroyed;  it  is  indivisible,  inde- 
structible, and  of  another  nature  from  the 
visible.  That  called  the  unmanifested  and  ex- 
haustless is  called  the  supreme  goal,  which 
having  once  attained  they  never  more  return 
— it  is  my  supreme  abode.  This  Supreme,  O 
son  of  Pritha,  within  whom  all  creatures  are 
included  and  by  whom  all  this  is  pervaded, 
may  be  attained  by  a devotion  which  is  intent 
on  him  alone. 

“I  will  now  declare  to  thee,  O best  of  the 
Bharatas,  at  what  time  yogis  dying  obtain 
freedom  from  or  subjection  to  rebirth.  Fire, 
light,  day,  the  fortnight  of  the  waxing  moon, 
six  months  of  the  sun’s  northern  course — 


62 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


going  then  and  knowing  the  Supreme  Spirit, 
men  go  to  the  Supreme.  But  those  who  de- 
part in  smoke,  at  night,  during  the  fortnight 
of  the  waning  moon,  and  while  the  sun  is  in 
the  path  of  his  southern  journey,  proceed  for 
a while  to  the  regions  of  the  moon  and  again 
return  to  mortal  birth.  These  two,  light  and 
darkness,  are  the  world’s  eternal  ways ; by  one 
a man  goes  not  to  return,  by  the  other  he 
cometh  back  again  upon  earth.  No  devotee, 
O son  of  Pritha,  who  knoweth  these  two 
paths  is  ever  deluded;  wherefore,  O Arjuna, 
at  all  times  be  thou  fixed  in  devotion.*  The 
man  of  meditation  who  knoweth  all  this 
reaches  beyond  whatever  rewards  are  prom- 
ised in  the  Vedas  or  that  result  from  sacrifices 
or  austerities  or  from  gifts  of  charity,  and 
goeth  to  the  supreme,  the  highest  place.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 


*The  paragraph  up  to  here  is  thought  by  some  Euro- 
pean Sanscritists  to  be  an  interpolation,  but  that  view 
is  not  held  by  all,  nor  Is  it  accepted  by  the  Hindus. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTH  63 

quy  between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Eighth  Chapter,  by  name— 


DEVOTION  TO  THE  OMNIPRESENT  SPIRIT  NAMED 


CHAPTER  IX. 


DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  THE  KINGLY  KNOWLEDGE  AND 
THE  KINGLY  MYSTERY. 


KRISHNA: 


0 


]NTO  thee  who  findeth  no  fault  I will 
now  make  known  this  most  mysteri- 
ous knowledge,  coupled  with  a real- 
ization of  it,  which  having  known  thou 
shalt  be  delivered  from  evil.  This  is  the  royal 
knowledge,  the  royal  mystery,  the  most  ex- 
cellent purifier,  clearly  comprehensible,  not  op- 
posed to  sacred  law,  easy  to  perform,  and 
inexhaustible.  These  who  are  unbelievers  in 
this  truth,  O harasser  of  thy  foes,  find  me 
not,  but  revolving  in  rebirth  return  to  this 
world,  the  mansion  of  death. 

“All  this  universe  is  pervaded  by  me  in  my 
invisible  form ; all  things  exist  in  me,  but  I 
do  not  exist  in  them.  Nor  are  all  things  in 
me ; behold  this  my  divine  mystery : myself 
causing  things  to  exist  and  supporting  them 
all  but  dwelling  not  in  them.  Understand 
that  all  things  are  in  me  even  as  the  mighty 


CHAPTER  NINTH 


65 


air  which  passes  everywhere  is  in  space.  O 
son  of  Kunti,  at  the  end  of  a kalpa  all  things 
return  into  my  nature,  and  then  again  at  the 
beginning  of  another  kalpa  I cause  them  to 
evolve  again.  Taking  control  of  my  own 
nature  I emanate  again  and  again  this  whole 
assemblage  of  beings,  without  their  will,  by 
the  power  of  the  material  essence.*  These 
acts  do  not  bind  me,  O conqueror  of  wealth, 
because  I am  as  one  who  sitteth  indifferent, 
uninterested  in  those  works.  By  reason  of 
my  supervision  nature  produceth  the  animate 
and  inanimate  universe;  it  is  through  this 
cause,  O son  of  Kunti,  that  the  universe  re- 
volveth. 

“The  deluded  despise  me  in  human  form, 
being  unacquainted  with  my  real  nature  as 
Lord  of  all  things.  They  are  of  vain  hopes, 
deluded  in  action,  in  reason  and  in  knowl- 
edge, inclining  to  demoniac  and  deceitful  prin- 
ciples.! But  those  great  of  soul,  partaking 
of  the  godlike  nature,  knowing  me  to  be  the 
imperishable  principle  of  all  things,  worship 
me,  diverted  to  nothing  else.  Fixed  in  un- 

*That  is  to  say,  by  the  power  of  “prakriti.” 

tThis  reads  that  “they  are  inclined  to  the  nature  of 
the  asuras  and  raltshasas,”  a class  of  evil  elementals  of 
beings,  or,  as  some  say,  “of  the  nature  of  the  very  low 
constituents  of  nature.” 


66 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


broken  vows  they  worship,  everywhere  pro- 
claiming me  and  bowing  down  to  me.  Others 
with  the  sacrifice  of  knowledge  in  other  ways 
worship'  me  as  indivisible,  as  separable,  as 
the  Spirit  of  the  universe.  I am  the  sacrifice 
and  sacrificial  rite ; I am  the  libation  offered 
to  ancestors,  and  the  spices ; I am  the  sacred 
formula  and  the  fire ; I am  the  food  and  the 
sacrificial  butter;  I am  the  father  and  the 
mother  of  this  universe,  the  grandsire  and 
the  preserver;  I am  the  Holy  One,  the  object 
of  knowledge,  the  mystic  purifying  syllable 
OM,  the  Rik,  the  Saman,  the  Yajur,  and  all 
the  Vedas.  I am  the  goal,  the  Comforter, 
the  Lord,  the  Witness,  the  resting-place,  the 
asylum  and  the  Friend;  I am  the  origin  and 
the  dissolution,  the  receptacle,  the  storehouse, 
and  the  eternal  seed.  I cause  light  and  heat 
and  rain ; I now  draw  in  and  now  let  forth ; 
I am  death  and  immortality;  I am  the  cause 
unseen  and  the  visible  effect.  Those  enlight- 
ened in  the  three  Vedas,  offering  sacrifices 
to  me  and  obtaining  sanctification  from  drink- 
ing the  soma  juice,*  petition  me  for  heaven; 

♦Among  the  Hindus  the  drinking  of  the  soma  at  the 
end  of  a sacrifice  is  an  act  of  great  merit,  with  its 
analogy  in  the  Christian  faith  in  the  drinking  of  the 
communion  wine. 


CHAPTER  NINTH 


6 7 


thus  they  attain  the  region  of  Indra,*  the 
prince  of  celestial  beings,  and  there  feast  upon 
celestial  food  and  are  gratified  with  heavenly 
enjoyments.  And  they,  having  enjoyed  that 
spacious  heaven  for  a period  in  proportion  to 
their  merits,  sink  back  into  this  mortal  world 
where  they  are  born  again  as  soon  as  their 
stock  of  merit  is  exhausted;  thus  those  who 
long  for  the  accomplishment  of  desires,  fol- 
lowing the  Vedas,  obtain  a happiness  which 
comes  and  goes.  But  for  those  who,  think- 
ing of  me  as  identical  with  all,  constantly  wor- 
ship me,  I bear  the  burden  of  the  responsibility 
of  their  happiness.  And  even  those  also  who 
worship  other  gods  with  a firm  faith  in  doing 
so,  involuntarily  worship  me,  too,  O son  of 
Kunti,  albeit  in  ignorance.  I am  he  who  is 
the  Lord  of  all  sacrifices,  and  am  also  their 
enjoyer,  but  they  do  not  understand  me  truly 
and  therefore  they  fall  from  heaven.  Those 
who  devote  themselves  to  the  gods  go  to  the 
gods ; the  worshippers  of  the  pitris  go  to  the 

*“The  region  of  Indra”  is  the  highest  of  the  celestial 
spheres.  It  is  the  devachan  of  theosophical  literature, 
for  Indra  is  the  prince  of  the  celestial  beings  who  abide 
in  deva-sthan. 


68 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


pitris ; those  who  worship  the  evil  spirits*  go 
to  them,  and  my  worshippers  come  to  me.  I 
accept  and  enjoy  the  offerings  of  the  humble 
soul  who  in  his  worship  with  a pure  heart 
offereth  a leaf,  a flower,  or  fruit,  or  water 
unto  me.  Whatever  thou  doest,  O son  of 
Kunti,  whatever  thou  eatest,  whatever  thou 
sacrificest,  whatever  thou  givest,  whatever 
mortification  thou  performest,  commit  each 
unto  me.  Thus  thou  shalt  be  delivered  from 
the  good  and  evil  experiences  which  are  the 
bonds  of  action;  and  thy  heart  being  joined 
to  renunciation  and  to  the  practice  of  action, 
thou  shalt  come  to  me.  I am  the  same  to  all 
creatures ; I know  not  hatred  nor  favor ; but 
those  who  serve  me  with  love  dwell  in  me 
and  I in  them.  Even  if  the  man  of  most 
evil  ways  worship  me  with  exclusive  devotion, 
he  is  to  be  considered  as  righteous,  for  he 
hath  judged  aright.  Such  a man  soon  becom- 
eth  of  a righteous  soul  and  obtaineth  perpet- 
ual happiness.  I swear,  O son  of  Kunti,  that 
he  who  worships  me  never  perisheth.  Those 

•These  evil  spirits  are  the  Bhutas,  and  are  the  same 
as  the  so-called  spirits  of  the  dead — the  shells — wor- 
shipped or  run  after  at  spiritualistic  seances. 


CHAPTER  NINTH 


69 


even  who  may  be  of  the  womb  of  sin,  women, f 
vaisyas,  and  sudras,*  shall  tread  the  highest 
path  if  they  take  sanctuary  with  me.  How 
much  more,  then,  holy  brahmans  and  devotees 
of  kingly  race ! Having  obtained  this  finite, 
joyless  world,  worship  me.  Serve  me,  fix  heart 
and  mind  on  me,  be  my  servant,  my  adorer, 
prostrate  thyself  before  me,  and  thus,  unit- 
ed unto  me,  at  rest,  thou  shalt  go  unto  me.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads , called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Ninth  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  THE  KINGLY  KNOWL- 
EDGE AND  THE  KINGLY  MYSTERY. 


tThis  may  seem  strange  to  those  who  have  been 
born  in  Christendom,  and  perhaps  appear  to  be  testi- 
mony to  harsh  views  on  the  part  of  Hindu  sages  re- 
specting women,  but  in  the  Bible  the  same  thing  is 
to  be  found  and  even  worse,  where  in  7 Tim.  2,  11-15,  it 
is  declared  that  the  woman  shall  be  saved  through  her 
husband,  and  that  she  must  be  subservient. 

♦Vaisyas  and  sudras  are  the  two  lower  castes,  or 
merchants  and  servitors. 


CHAPTER  X. 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  THE  UNIVERSAL  DIVINE  PER 
FECTIONS. 


KRISHNA: 


EAR  again,  O thou  of  mighty  arms, 
my  supreme  words,  which  unto  thee 
who  art  well  pleased  I will  declare  be- 
cause I am  anxious  for  thy  welfare. 

“Neither  the  assemblage  of  the  Gods  nor 
the  Adept  Kings  know  my  origin,  because  I 
am  the  origin  of  all  the  Gods  and  of  the 
Adepts.  Whosoever  knoweth  me  to  be  the 
mighty  Ruler  of  the  universe  and  without  birth 
or  beginning,  he  among  men,  undeluded,  shall 
be  liberated  from  all  his  sins.  Subtle  per- 
ception, spiritual  knowledge,  right  judgment, 
patience,  truth,  self-mastery ; pleasure  and 
pain,  prosperity  and  adversity;  birth  and 
death,  danger  and  security,  fear  and  equa- 
nimity, satisfaction,  restraint  of  body  and 
mind,  alms-giving,  inoffensiveness,  zeal  and 
glory  and  ignominy,  all  these  the  various  dis- 
positions of  creatures  come  from  me.  So  in 
former  days  the  seven  great  Sages  and  the 


CHAPTER  TENTH 


71 


four  Manus  who  are  of  my  nature  were  born 
of  my  mind,  and  from  them  sprang  this  world. 
He  who  knoweth  perfectly  this  permanence 
and  mystic  faculty  of  mine  becometh  without 
doubt  possessed  of  unshaken  faith.  I am  the 
origin  of  all ; all  things  proceed  from  me ; 
believing  me  to  be  thus,  the  wise  gifted  with 
spiritual  wisdom  worship  me ; their  very  hearts 
and  minds  are  in  me;  enlightening  one  an- 
other and  constantly  speaking  of  me,  they  are 
full  of  enjoyment  and  satisfaction.  To  them 
thus  always  devoted  to  me,  who  worship  me 
with  love,  I give  that  mental  devotion  by 
which  they  come  to  me.  For  them  do  I out 
of  my  compassion,  standing  within  their 
hearts,  destroy  the  darkness  which  springs 
from  ignorance  by  the  brilliant  lamp  of  spirit- 
ual discernment.” 

ARJUNA: 

“Thou  art  Parabrahm  !*  the  supreme 
abode,  the  great  Purification ; thou  art  the 
Eternal  Presence,  the  Divine  Being,  before 
all  other  Gods,  holy,  primeval,  all-pervading, 
without  beginning ! Thus  thou  art  declared 
by  all  the  Sages — by  Narada,  Asita,  Devala, 


‘Beyond  Brahma. 


72 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


Vyasa,  and  thou  thyself  now  doth  say  the 
same.  I firmly  believe  all  that  thou,  O 
Keshava,  sayest  unto  me;  for  neither  Gods 
nor  demons  comprehend  thy  manifestations. 
Thou  alone  knowest  thyself  by  thy  Self,  Su- 
preme Spirit,  Creator  and  Master  of  all  that 
lives,  God  of  Gods,  and  Lord  of  all  the  uni- 
verse! Thou  alone  can  fully  declare  thy  di- 
vine powers  by  which  thou  hast  pervaded  and 
continueth  to  pervade  these  worlds.  How 
shall  I,  constantly  thinking  of  thee,  be  able 
to  know  thee,  O mysterious  Lord?  In  what 
particular  forms  shall  I meditate  on  thee?  O 
Janardana — besought  by  mortals — tell  me 
therefore  in  full  thine  own  powers  and  forms 
of  manifestation,  for  I am  never  sated  of 
drinking  of  the  life-giving  water  of  thy 
words.” 

KRISHNA: 

“O  best  of  Kurus,  blessings  be  upon  thee.* 
I will  make  thee  acquainted  with  the  chief  of 
my  divine  manifestations,  for  the  extent  of 
my  nature  is  infinite. 

♦In  the  original  the  first  word  is  one  which  carries 
a blessing  with  it ; it  is  a benediction  and  means  "now 
then,”  but  this  in  English  conveys  no  idea  of  a bene- 
diction. 


CHAPTER  TENTH 


73 


“I  am  the  Ego  which  is  seated  in  the  hearts 
of  all  beings ; I am  the  beginning,  the  mid- 
dle, and  the  end  of  all  existing  things.  Among 
Adityas*  I am  Vishnu,  and  among  luminous 
bodies  I am  the  sun.  I am  Mrichi  among  the 
Maruts,f  and  among  heavenly  mansions  I am 
the  moon.  Among  the  Vedas  I am  the  Samct- 
veda,%  and  Indra§  among  the  Gods;  among 
the  senses  and  organs  I am  the  Manas, ||  and 
of  creatures  the  existence.  I am  Shankara 
among  the  Rudras ; and  Vittesha,  the  lord  of 
wealth  among  the  Yakshasfl  and  Rakshasas.** 
I am  Pavaka  among  the  Vasus,ff  and  Merujlj: 
among  high-aspiring  mountains.  And  know, 
O son  of  Pritha,  that  I am  Brihaspati,§§  the 

•Adityas,  the  twelve  Sun-Gods,  who  at  the  recur- 
rence of  the  time  for  dissolution  by  fire,  bring  on  the 
universal  conflagration. 

tThe  Gods  of  air. 

tin  Western  language  this  may  be  said  to  be  the 
Veda  of  song  in  the  very  highest  sense  of  the  power  of 
song.  Many  nations  held  that  song  had  the  power 
to  make  even  mere  matter  change  and  move  obedient 
to  the  sound. 

§In  the  original  it  is  “Vasava”  which  is  a name  of 
Indra. 

||  The  heart  or  the  mind. 

■[[Spirits  of  a sensual  nature. 

••An  order  of  evil  spirits. 

tfAmong  the  first  created  Beings  of  a high  order. 

tJSaid  by  some  to  be  the  North  Pole. 

§§  Jupiter,  the  teacher  of  the  Devas. 


74 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


chief  of  teachers;  among  leaders  of  celestial 
armies  Skanda,  and  of  floods  I am  the  ocean.  I 
am  Bhrigu  among  the  Adept  Kings ; of  words 
I am  the  monoysllable  OM ; of  forms  of  wor- 
ship, the  silent  repetition  of  sacred  texts,  and 
of  immovable  things  I am  the  Himalaya.  Of 
all  the  trees  of  the  forest  I am  Ashwattha, 
the  Pimpala  tree ; and  of  the  celestial  Sages, 
Narada;  among  Gandharbhas*  I am  Chitrar- 
atha,  and  of  perfect  saints,  Kapila.  Know 
that  among  horses  I am  Uchchisrava,  who 
arose  with  the  Amrita  out  of  the  ocean  ; among 
elephants,  Airavata,  and  among  men  their 
sovereigns.  Of  weapons  I am  the  thunder- 
bolt ; among  cows,  Kamaduk,  the  cow  of  plen- 
ty ; of  procreators,  the  God  of  love,  and  of 
serpents,  Vasuki,f  their  chief.  I am  Ananta 
among  the  Nagas,|  Varuna  among  things  of 
the  waters ; among  the  ancestors,  Aryana,  and 
of  all  who  judge  I am  Yama.§  Among  the 
Daityas  I am  Prahlada,  and  among  computa- 
tions I am  Time  itself ; the  lion  among  beasts, 


‘Celestial  host  of  singers ; they  are  a class  of  ele- 
mental. 

fPoisonous  serpents. 

JNon-poisonous  serpents  of  a fabled  sort,  said  to 
have  speech  and  wisdom. 

§The  Judge  of  the  dead. 


CHAPTER  TENTH 


75 


and  Garuda*  among  the  feathered  tribe. 
Among  purifiers  I am  Pavana,  the  air;  Rama 
among  those  who  carry  arms,  Makara  among 
the  fishes,  and  the  Ganges  among  rivers. 
Among  that  which  is  evolved,  O Arjuna,  I am 
the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end ; of  all 
sciences  I am  the  knowledge  of  the  Adhy- 
atma,f  and  of  uttered  sounds  the  human 
speech.  Among  letters  I am  the  vowel  A, 
and  of  all  compound  words  I am  the  Dwand- 
vva;|  I am  endless  time  itself,  and  the  Pre- 
server whose  face  is  turned  on  all  sides.  I 
am  all-grasping  death,  and  the  birth  of  those 
who  are  to  be;  among  feminine  things  I am 
fame,  fortune,  speech,  memory,  intelligence, 
patience,  and  forgiveness.  Among  the  hymns 
of  the  Samaveda  I am  Brihat  Saman,  and  the 
Gayatri  among  metres ; among  months  I am 
the  month  Margashirsha,§  and  of  seasons 
spring  called  Kusumakra,  the  time  of  flowers. 

*Garuda,  the  bird  of  Vishnu,  and  also  means  esoteri- 
cally  the  whole  manvantaric  cycle. 

+The  highest  spiritual  knowledge. 

fA  form  of  compound  word  in  the  Sanskrit  which 
preserves  the  meaning  of  the  words  making  up  the 
compound. 

§The  month  when  the  regular  rains  have  stopped  and 
the  heat  abated. 


76 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


Of  those  things  which  deceive  I am  the  dice, 
and  splendor  itself  among  splendid  things. 
I am  victory,  I am  perseverance,  and  the  good- 
ness of  the  good.  Of  the  race  of  Vrishni  I 
am  Vasudeva;  of  the  Pandava  I am  Arjuna 
the  conqueror  of  wealth;  of  perfect  saints  I 
am  Vyasa,*  and  of  prophet-seers  I am  the 
bard  Oosana.  Among  rulers  I am  the  rod  of 
punishment,  among  those  desiring  conquest  I 
am  policy ; and  among  the  wise  of  secret  knowl- 
edge I am  their  silence.  I am,  O Arjuna, 
the  seed  of  all  existing  things,  and  there  is 
not  anything,  whether  animate  or  inanimate 
which  is  without  me.  My  divine  manifesta- 
tions, O harasser  of  thy  foes,  are  without 
end,  the  many  which  I have  mentioned  are 
by  way  of  example.  Whatever  creature  is 
permanent,  of  good  fortune  or  mighty,  also 
know  it  to  be  sprung  from  a portion  of  my 
energy.  But  what,  O Arjuna,  hast  thou  to  do 
with  so  much  knowledge  as  this?  I estab- 
lished this  whole  universe  with  a single  portion 
of  myself,  and  remain  separate.” 

♦Vyasa,  the  author  of  the  Mahabharata. 


CHAPTER  TENTH 


77 


Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Tenth  Chapter,  by  name — 


DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  THE  UNIVERSAL  DI- 
VINE PERFECTIONS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

VISION  OF  THE  DIVINE  FORM  AS  INCLUDING  ALL  FORMS. 


ARJUNA: 


M 


Y delusion  has  been  dispersed  by  the 
words  which  thou  for  my  soul’s  peace 
hast  spoken  concerning  the  mystery 
of  the  Adhyatma — the  spirit.  For  I 
have  heard  at  full  length  from  thee,  O thou 
whose  eyes  are  like  lotus  leaves,  the  origin 
and  dissolution  of  existing  things,  and  also 
thy  inexhaustible  majesty.  It  is  even  as  thou 
hast  described  thyself,  O mighty  Lord ; I now 
desire  to  see  thy  divine  form,  O sovereign 
Lord.  Wherefore,  O Lord,  if  thou  thinkest 
it  may  be  beheld  by  me,  show  me,  O Master 
of  devotion,  thine  inexhaustible  Self.” 


KRISHNA: 

“Behold,  O son  of  Pritha,  my  forms  by 
hundreds  and  by  thousands,  of  diverse  kinds 
divine,  of  many  shapes  and  fashions.  Be- 
hold the  Adityas,  Vasus,  Rudras,  Aswins,  and 
the  Maruts,  see  things  wonderful  never  seen 


CHAPTER  ELEVENTH 


79 


before,  O son  of  Bharata.  Here  in  my  body 
now  behold,  O Gudakesha,  the  whole  universe 
animate  and  inanimate  gathered  here  in  one, 
and  all  things  else  thou  hast  a wish  to  see. 
But  as  with  thy  natural  eyes  thou  art  not  able 
to  see  me,  I will  give  thee  the  divine  eye. 
Behold  my  sovereign  power  and  might!” 

SANJAYA: 

O king,  having  thus  spoken,  Hari,*  the 
mighty  Lord  of  mysterious  power,  showed  to 
the  son  of  Pritha  his  supreme  form ; with 
many  mouths  and  eyes  and  many  wonderful 
appearances,  with  many  divine  ornaments, 
many  celestial  weapons  upraised ; adorned 
with  celestial  garlands  and  robes,  anointed  with 
celestial  ointments  and  perfumes,  full  of 
every  marvelous  thing,  the  eternal  God  whose 
face  is  turned  in  all  directions.  The  glory 
and  amazing  splendor  of  this  mighty  Being 
may  be  likened  to  the  radiance  shed  by  a 
thousand  suns  rising  together  into  the  heav- 
ens. The  son  of  Pandu  then  beheld  within 
the  body  of  the  God  of  gods  the  whole  universe 


*Hari,  an  epithet  of  Krishna,  meaning  that  he  has  the 
power  to  remove  all  difficulty. 


So 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


in  all  its  vast  variety.  Overwhelmed  with 
wonder,  Dhananjaya,*  the  possessor  of  wealth, 
with  hair  standing  on  end,  bowed  down  his 
head  before  the  Deity,  and  thus  with  joined 
palmsf  addressed  him: 

ARJUNA: 

“I  behold,  O God  of  gods,  within  thy  frame 
all  beings  and  things  of  every  kind ; the  Lord 
Brahma  on  his  lotus  throne,  all  the  Rishees 
and  the  heavenly  Serpents.^  I see  thee  on 
all  sides,  of  infinite  forms,  having  many  arms, 
stomachs,  mouths,  and  eyes.  But  I can  dis- 
cover neither  thy  beginning,  thy  middle,  nor 
thy  end,  O universal  Lord,  form  of  the  uni- 
verse. I see  thee  crowned  with  a diadem  and 
armed  with  mace  and  chakkra,§  a mass  of 
splendor,  darting  light  on  all  sides;  difficult 
to  behold,  shining  in  every  direction  with  light 
immeasurable,  like  the  burning  fire  or  glow- 


*Arjuna. 

tThis  is  the  Hindu  mode  of  salutation. 

JThese  are  the  Uragas,  said  to  be  serpents.  But  it 
must  refer  to  the  great  Masters  of  Wisdom,  who  were 
often  called  Serpents. 

§Among  human  weapons  this  would  be  known  as  the 
discus,  but  here  it  means  the  whirling  wheel  of  spiritual 
will  and  power. 


CHAPTER  ELEVENTH 


8l 


ing  sun.  Thou  art  the  supreme  inexhaustible 
Being,  the  end  of  effort,  changeless,  the  Su- 
preme Spirit  of  this  universe,  the  never-fail- 
ing guardian  of  eternal  law;  I esteem  thee 
Purusha,*  I see  thee  without  beginning,  mid- 
dle, or  end,  of  infinite  power  with  arms  in- 
numerable, the  sun  and  moon  thy  eyes,  thy 
mouth  a flaming  fire,  overmastering  the  whole 
universe  with  thy  majesty.  Space  and  heav- 
en, and  earth  and  every  point  around  the 
three  regions  of  the  universe  are  filled  with 
thee  alone.  The  triple  world  is  full  of  fear, 
O thou  mighty  Spirit,  seeing  this  thy  mar- 
vellous form  of  terror.  Of  the  assemblage 
of  the  gods  some  I see  fly  to  thee  for  refuge, 
while  some  in  fear  with  joined  hands  sing 
forth  thy  praise;  the  hosts  of  the  Maharshis 
and  Siddhas,  great  sages  and  saints,  hail 
thee,  saying  ‘svasti/f  and  glorify  thee  with 
most  excellent  hymns.  The  Rudras,  Adit- 
yas,  the  Vasus,  and  all  those  beings — the 
Sadhyas,  Vishwas,  the  Ashwins,  Maruts,  and 
Ushmapas,  the  hosts  of  Gandharbhas,  Yak- 

*Purusha,  the  Eternal  Person.  The  same  name  is 
also  given  to  man  by  the  Hindus. 

tThis  cry  is  supposed  to  be  for  the  benefit  of  the 
world,  and  has  that  meaning. 


82 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


shas,  and  Siddhas* — all  stand  gazing  on  thee 
and  are  amazed.  All  the  worlds  alike  with 
me  are  terrified  to  behold  thy  wondrous  form 
gigantic,  O thou  of  mighty  arms,  with  many 
mouths  and  eyes,  with  many  arms,  thighs  and 
feet,  with  many  stomachs  and  projecting 
tusks.  For  seeing  ithee  thus  touching  the 
heavens,  shining  with  such  glory,  with  wide- 
ly-opened mouths  and  bright  expanded  eyes, 
my  inmost  soul  is  troubled  and  I lose  both 
firmness  and  tranquility,  O Vishnu.  Behold- 
ing thy  dreadful  teeth  and  thy  face  like  the 
burning  of  death,  I can  see  neither  heaven 
nor  earth ; I find  no  peace ; have  mercy,  O 
Lord  of  gods,  thou  Spirit  of  the  universe ! 
The  sons  of  Dhritarashtra  with  all  these  rul- 
ers of  men,  Bhishma,  Drona  and  also  Kama 
and  our  principal  warriors,  seem  to  be  im- 
petuously precipitating  themselves  into  thy 
mouths  terrible  with  tusks ; some  are  seen 
caught  between  thy  teeth,  their  heads  ground 
down.  As  the  rapid  streams  of  full-flowing 
rivers  roll  on  to  meet  the  ocean,  even  so 

♦All  these  names  refer  to  different  classes  of  celestial 
beings,  some  of  which  are  now  called  in  theosophical 
literature,  "elementals the  others  are  explained  in 
H.  P.  Blavatsky’s  Secret  Doctrine. 


CHAPTER  ELEVENTH 


83 


these  heroes  of  the  human  race  rush  into  thy 
flaming  mouths.  As  troops  of  insects  car- 
ried away  by  strong  impulse  find  death  in  the 
fire,  even  so  do  these  beings  with  swelling 
force  pour  into  thy  mouths  for  their  own  de- 
struction. Thou  involvest  and  swallowest  all 
these  creatures  from  every  side,  licking  them 
in  thy  flaming  lips ; filling  the  universe  with 
thy  splendor,  thy  sharp  beams  burn,  O Vish- 
nu. Reverence  be  unto  thee,  O best  of  Gods ! 
Be  favorable!  I seek  to  know  thee,  the  Pri- 
meval One,  for  I know  not  thy  work.” 

KRISHNA: 

“I  am  Time  matured,  come  hither  for  the 
destruction  of  these  creatures ; except  thyself, 
not  one  of  all  these  warriors  here  drawn  up 
in  serried  ranks  shall  live.  Wherefore,  arise ! 
seize  fame!  Defeat  the  foe  and  enjoy  the 
full-grown  kingdom ! They  have  been  al- 
ready slain  by  me ; be  thou  only  the  imme- 
diate agent,  O thou  both-armed  one.*  Be 
not  disturbed.  Slay  Drona,  Bhishma,  Jay- 
adratha,  Kama,  and  all  the  other  heroes  of 


*Arjuna  was  a famous  archer  who  could  use  the 
celestial  bow,  Gandiva,  with  either  hand  equally  well. 


84 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


the  war  who  are  really  slain  by  me.  Fight, 
thou  wilt  conquer  all  thine  enemies.” 

SAN JAY A: 

When  he  of  the  resplendent  diadem*  heard 
these  words  from  the  mouth  of  Keshava,f 
he  saluted  Krishna  with  joined  palms  and 
trembling  with  fear,  addressed  him  in  broken 
accents,  and  bowed  down  terrified  before 
him. 

ARJUNA: 

“The  universe,  O Hrishekesha,f  is  justly 
delighted  with  thy  glory  and  is  filled  with 
zeal  for  thy  service;  the  evil  spirits  are  af- 
frighted and  flee  on  all  sides,  while  all  the 
hosts  of  saints  bow  down  in  adoration  before 
thee.  And  wherefore  should  they  not  adore 
thee,  O mighty  Being,  thou  who  art  greater 
than  Brahma,  who  art  the  first  Maker?  O 
eternal  God  of  gods ! O habitation  of  the 
universe ! Thou  art  the  one  indivisible  Be- 
ing, and  non-being,  that  which  is  supreme. 
Thou  art  the  first  of  Gods,  the  most  ancient 


•Arjuna  wore  a brilliant  tiara. 
tKrishna,  by  other  names. 


CHAPTER  ELEVENTH 


85 


Spirit ; thou  art  the  final  supreme  receptacle* 
of  this  universe;  thou  art  the  Knower  and 
that  which  is  to  be  known,  and  the  supreme 
mansion ; and  by  thee,  O thou  of  infinite  form, 
is  this  universe  caused  to  emanate.  Thou 
art  Vayu,  God  of  wind,  Agni,  God  of  fire, 
Yama,  God  of  death,  Varuna,  God  of  waters; 
thou  art  the  moon;  Prajapati,  the  progenitor 
and  grandfather,  art  thou.  Hail ! hail  to  thee  ! 
Hail  to  thee  a thousand  times  repeated ! Again 
and  again  hail  to  thee!  Hail  to  thee!  Hail 
to  thee  from  before!  Hail  to  thee  from  be- 
hind ! Hail  to  thee  on  all  sides,  O thou  All ! 
Infinite  is  thy  power  and  might ; thou  includest 
all  things,  therefore  thou  art  all  things ! 

“Having  been  ignorant  of  thy  majesty,  I 
took  thee  for  a friend,  and  have  called  thee 
‘O  Krishna,  O son  of  Yadu,  O friend,’  and 
blinded  by  my  affection  and  presumption,  I 
have  at  times  treated  thee  without  respect  in 
sport,  in  recreation,  in  repose,  in  thy  chair, 
and  at  thy  meals,  in  private  and  in  public; 
all  this  I beseech  thee,  O inconceivable  Be- 
ing, to  forgive. 

*That  is,  that  into  which  the  universe  is  resolved 
on  the  final  dissolution. 


86 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


“Thou  art  the  father  of  all  things  animate 
and  inanimate ; thou  art  to  be  honored  as 
above  the  guru  himself,  and  worthy  to  be 
adored ; there  is  none  equal  to  thee,  and  how 
in  the  triple  worlds  could  there  be  thy  super- 
ior, O thou,  of  unrivalled  power?  Therefore 
I bow  down  and  with  my  body  prostrate,  I 
implore  thee,  O Lord,  for  mercy.  Forgive, 
O Lord,  as  the  friend  forgives  the  friend,  as 
the  father  pardons  his  son,  as  the  lover  the 
beloved.  I am  well  pleased  with  having  be- 
held what  was  never  before  seen,  and  yet  my 
heart  is  overwhelmed  with  awe ; have  mercy 
then,  O God  ; show  me  that  other  form,  O thou 
who  art  the  dwelling-place  of  the  universe;  I 
desire  to  see  thee  as  before  with  thy  diadem 
on  thy  head,  thy  hands  armed  with  mace  and 
chakkra;  assume  again,  O thou  of  a thousand 
arms  and  universal  form,  thy  four-armed 
shape !”* 

KRISHNA: 

“Out  of  kindness  to  thee,  O Arjuna,  by  my 
divine  power  I have  shown  thee  my  supreme 

’Arjuna  had  been  accustomed  to  see  Krishna  in  his 
four-armed  form,  not  only  in  the  images  shown  in 
youth,  but  also  when  Krishna  came  into  incarnation, 
and  could  therefore  look  on  the  four-armed  form  with- 
out fear. 


CHAPTER  ELEVENTH 


87 


form,  the  universe,  resplendent,  infinite,  pri- 
meval, and  which  has  never  been  beheld  by 
any  other  than  thee.  Neither  by  studying 
the  Vedas,  nor  by  alms-giving,  nor  by  sacri- 
ficial rites,  nor  by  deeds,  nor  by  the  sever- 
est mortification  of  the  flesh  can  I be  seen 
in  this  form  by  any  other  than  thee,  O best 
of  Kurus.  Having  beheld  my  form  thus  aw- 
ful, be  not  disturbed  nor  let  thy  faculties  be 
confounded,  but  with  fears  allayed  and  happi- 
ness of  heart  look  upon  this  other  form  of 
mine  again.” 

SANJAYA: 

Vasudeva*  having  so  spoken  reassumed  his 
natural  form ; and  thus  in  milder  shape  the 
Great  One  presently  assuaged  the  fears  of  the 
terrified  Arjuna. 

ARJUNA: 

“Now  that  I see  again  thy  placid  human 
shape,  O Janardana,  who  art  prayed  to  by 
mortals,  my  mind  is  no  more  disturbed  and  I 
am  self-possessed.” 


*A  name  of  Krishna 


88 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


KRISHNA: 

“Thou  hast  seen  this  form  of  mine  which 
is  difficult  to  be  perceived  and  which  even 
the  gods  are  always  anxious  to  behold.  But 
I am  not  to  be  seen,  even  as  I have  shown 
myself  to  thee,  by  study  of  the  Vedas,  nor  by 
mortifications,  nor  alms-giving,  nor  sacrifices. 
I am  to  be  approached  and  seen  and  known 
in  truth  by  means  of  that  devotion  which  has 
me  alone  as  the  object.  He  whose  actions 
are  for  me  alone,  who  esteemeth  me  the  su- 
preme goal,  who  is  my  servant  only,  without 
attachment  to  the  results  of  action  and  free 
from  enmity  towards  any  creature,  cometh  to 
me,  O son  of  Pandu.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Eleventh  Chapter,  by  name — 

THE  VISION  OF  THE  DIVINE  FORM  AS  INCLUD- 
ING ALL  FORMS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  FAITH. 


ARJUNA: 


MONG  those  of  thy  devotees  who  al- 
ways thus  worship  thee,*  which  take 
the  better  way,  those  who  worship  the 
indivisible  and  unmanifested,  or  those 
who  serve  thee  as  thou  now  art?” 


A 


KRISHNA: 

“Those  who  worship  me  with  constant  zeal, 
with  the  highest  faith  and  minds  placed  on 
me,  are  held  in  high  esteem  by  me.  But 
those  who,  with  minds  equal  toward  every- 
thing, with  senses  and  organs  restrained,  and 
rejoicing  in  the  good  of  all  creatures,  med- 
itate on  the  inexhaustible,  immovable,  high- 
est, incorruptible,  difficult  to  contemplate,  in- 
visible, omnipresent,  unthinkable,  the  witness, 
undemonstrable,  shall  also  come  unto  me.  For 
those  whose  hearts  are  fixed  on  the  unmani- 


*That  Is,  as  described  at  the  end  of  Chapter  XI. 


90 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


fested  the  labor  is  greater,  because  the  path 
which  is  not  manifest  is  with  difficulty  at- 
tained by  corporeal  beings.*  But  for  those 
who  worship  me,  renouncing  in  me  all  their 
actions,  regarding  me  as  the  supreme  goal 
and  meditating  on  me  alone,  if  their  thoughts 
are  turned  to  me,  O son  of  Pritha,  I present- 
ly become  the  savior  from  this  ocean  of  in- 
carnations and  death.  Place,  then,  thy  heart 
on  me,  penetrate  me  with  thy  understanding, 
and  thou  shalt  without  doubt  hereafter  dwell 
in  me.  But  if  thou  shouldst  be  unable  at 
once  steadfastly  to  fix  thy  heart  and  mind  on 
me,  strive  then,  O Dhananjaya,  to  find  me 
by  constant  practice  in  devotion.  If  after 
constant  practice,  thou  art  still  unable,  fol- 
low me  by  actions  performed  for  me  ;f  for 
by  doing  works  for  me  thou  shalt  attain  per- 
fection. But  if  thou  art  unequal  even  to  this, 
then,  being  self-restrained,  place  all  thy  works, 
failures  and  successes  alike,  on  me,  aban- 

*The  difficulty  here  stated  is  that  caused  by  the  per- 
sonality, which  causes  us  to  see  the  Supreme  as  different 
and  separate  from  ourselves. 

tThe  works  referred  to  here  are  special  works  of 
all  kinds  performed  for  the  sake  of  the  Supreme  Being, 
which  will  have  their  effect  upon  the  performer  in 
future  lives. 


CHAPTER  TWELFTH  9 1 

cloning  in  me  the  fruit  of  every  action.  For 
knowledge  is  better  than  constant  practice, 
meditation  is  superior  to  knowledge,  renun- 
ciation of  the  fruit  of  action  to  meditation; 
final  emancipation  immediately  results  from 
such  renunciation. 

“My  devotee  who  is  free  from  enmity,  well- 
disposed  towards  all  creatures,  merciful, 
wholly  exempt  from  pride  and  selfishness,  the 
same  in  pain  and  pleasure,  patient  of  wrongs, 
contented,  constantly  devout,  self-governed, 
firm  in  resolves,  and  whose  mind  and  heart 
are  fixed  on  me  alone,  is  dear  unto  me.  He 
also  is  my  beloved  of  whom  mankind  is  not 
afraid  and  who  has  no  fear  of  man ; who  is 
free  from  joy,  from  despondency  and  the 
dread  of  harm.  My  devotee  who  is  unex- 
pecting,* pure,  just,  impartial,  devoid  of 
fear,  and  who  hath  forsaken  interest  in  the 
results  of  action,  is  dear  unto  me.  He  also  is 
worthy  of  my  love  who  neither  rejoiceth  nor 
findeth  fault,  who  neither  lamenteth  nor  cov- 
eteth,  and  being  my  servant  hath  forsaken  in- 
terest in  both  good  and  evil  results.  He  also 
is  my  beloved  servant  who  is  equal-minded 


In  the  original  this  reads  as  “not  peering  about.” 


92 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


to  friend  or  foe,  the  same  in  honor  and  dis- 
honor, in  cold  and  heat,  in  pain  and  pleasure, 
and  is  unsolicitous  about  the  event  of  things ; 
to  whom  praise  and  blame  are  as  one ; who  is 
of  little  speech,  content  with  whatever  com- 
eth  to  pass,  who  hath  no  fixed  habitation,  and 
whose  heart,  full  of  devotion,  is  firmly  fixed. 
But  those  who  seek  this  sacred  ambrosia — 
the  religion  of  immortality — even  as  I have 
explained  it,  full  of  faith,  intent  on  me  above 
all  others,  and  united  to  devotion,  are  my  most 
beloved.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Twelfth  Chapter,  by  name — 


DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  FAITH. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  THE  DISCRIMINATION  OF  THE 
KSHETRA  FROM  KSHETRAJNA. 


KRISHNA: 


HIS  perishable  body,  O son  of  Kunti, 
is  known  as  Kshetra;  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  true  nature  of 
things  call  the  soul  who  knows  it,  the 
Kshetra jna.  Know  also  that  I am  the  Knower 
in  every  mortal  body,  O son  of  Bharata ; that 
knowledge  which  through  the  soul  is  a real- 
ization of  both  the  known  and  the  knower  is 
alone  esteemed  by  me  as  wisdom.  What  the 
Kshetra  or  body  is,  what  it  resembleth,  what  it 
produceth,  and  what  is  its  origin,  and  also  who 
he  is  who,  dwelling  within,  knoweth  it,  as  well 
as  what  is  his  power,  learn  all  in  brief  from  me. 
It  has  been  manifoldly  sung  by  the  Rishees 
with  discrimination  and  with  arguments  in  the 
various  Vedic  hymns  which  treat  of  Brahma. 

“This  body,  then,  is  made  up  of  the  great 
elements,  Ahankara — egotism,  Buddhi — in- 
tellect or  judgment,  the  unmanifest,  invisi- 


94 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


ble  spirit;  the  ten  centers  of  action,  the  mind, 
and  the  five  objects  of  sense:  desire,  aver- 
sion, pleasure  and  pain,  persistency  of  life, 
and  firmness,  the  power  of  cohesion.  Thus 
I have  made  known  unto  thee  what  the  Kshe- 
tra  or  body  is  with  its  component  parts. 

“True  wisdom  of  a spiritual  kind  is  free- 
dom from  self-esteem,  hypocrisy,  and  injury 
to  others ; it  is  patience,  sincerity,  respect  for 
spiritual  instructors,  purity,  firmness,  self-re- 
straint, dispassion  for  objects  of  sense,  free- 
dom from  pride,  and  a meditation  upon  birth, 
death,  decay,  sickness,  and  error;  it  is  an  ex- 
emption from  self-identifying  attachment  for 
children,  wife,  and  household,  and  a constant 
unwavering  steadiness  of  heart  upon  the  ar- 
rival of  every  event  whether  favorable  or 
unfavorable;  it  is  a never-ceasing  love  for 
me  alone,  the  self  being  effaced,  and  worship 
paid  in  a solitary  spot,  and  a want  of  pleasure 
in  congregations  of  men ; it  is  a resolute  con- 
tinuance in  the  study  of  Adhyatma,  the  Su- 
perior spirit,  and  a meditation  upon  the  end 
of  the  acquirement  of  a knowledge  of  truth; 
— this  is  called  wisdom  or  spiritual  knowledge ; 
its  opposite  is  ignorance. 


CHAPTER  THIRTEENTH 


95 


“I  will  now  tell  thee  what  is  the  object  of 
wisdom,  from  knowing-  which  a man  enjoys 
immortality ; it  is  that  which  has  no  begin- 
ning, even  the  supreme  Brahma,  and  of  which 
it  cannot  be  said  that  it  is  either  Being  or 
Non-Being.  It  has  hands  and  feet  in  all  di- 
rections; eyes,  heads,  mouths,  and  ears  in 
every  direction ; it  is  immanent  in  the  world, 
possessing  the  vast  whole.  Itself  without  or- 
gans, it  is  reflected  by  all  the  senses  and  fac- 
ulties ; unattached,  yet  supporting  all ; without 
qualities,  yet  the  witness  of  them  all.  It  is 
within  and  without  all  creatures  animate  and 
inanimate;  it  is  inconceivable  because  of  its 
subtlety,  and  although  near  it  is  afar  off.  Al- 
though undivided  it  appeareth  as  divided 
among  creatures,  and  while  it  sustains  exist- 
ing things,  it  is  also  to  be  known  as  their  de- 
stroyer and  creator.  It  is  the  light  of  all 
lights,  and  is  declared  to  be  beyond  all  dark- 
ness; and  it  is  wisdom  itself,  the  object  of 
wisdom,  and  that  which  is  to  be  obtained  by 
wisdom ; in  the  hearts  of  all  it  ever  presideth. 
Thus  hath  been  briefly  declared  what  is  the 
perishable  body,  and  wisdom  itself,  together 
with  the  object  of  wisdom;  he,  my  devotee, 


96 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


who  thus  in  truth  conceiveth  me,  obtaineth 
my  state. 

“Know  that  prakriti  or  nature,  and  pur- 
usha  the  spirit,  are  without  beginning.  And 
know  that  the  passions  and  the  three  qualities 
are  sprung  from  nature.  Nature  or  prakriti 
is  said  to  be  that  which  operates  in  producing 
cause  and  effect  in  actions  ;*  individual  spirit 
or  purusha  is  said  to  be  the  cause  of  experi- 
encing pain  and  pleasure.!  For  spirit  when 
invested  with  matter  or  prakriti  experienceth 
the  qualities  which  proceed  from  prakriti;  its 
connection  with  these  qualities  is  the  cause 
of  its  rebirth  in  good  and  evil  wombs.!  The 
spirit  in  the  body  is  called  Maheswara,  the 
Great  Lord,  the  spectator,  the  admonisher,  the 
sustainer,  the  enjoyer,  and  also  the  Paramat- 
ma,  the  highest  soul.  He  who  thus  knoweth 


* Prakriti , matter  or  nature,  is  the  cause  of  all  action 
throughout  the  universe,  as  it  is  the  basis  by  which 
action  may  take  place ; and  herein  are  included  all 
actions,  whether  of  men,  of  gods,  powers,  or  what  not. 

^Purusha  is  the  aspect  of  the  individual  spirit  in 
every  human  breast ; it  is  the  cause  of  our  experiencing 
pain  and  pleasure  through  the  connection  with  nature 
found  in  the  body. 

tHere  purusha  is  the  persisting  individuality  which 
connects  all  reincarnations,  as  if  it  were  the  thread, 
and  has  hence  been  called  the  "thread  Soul.” 


CHAPTER  THIRTEENTH 


97 


the  spirit  and  nature,  together  with  the  qual- 
ities, whatever  mode  of  life  he  may  lead,  is 
not  born  again  on  this  earth. 

“Some  men  by  meditation,  using  contem- 
plation upon  the  Self,  behold  the  spirit  with- 
in, others  attain  to  that  end  by  philosophical 
study  with  its  realization,  and  others  by 
means  of  the  religion  of  works.  Others,  again, 
who  are  not  acquainted  with  it  in  this  man- 
ner, but  have  heard  it  from  others,  cleave  unto 
and  respect  it;  and  even  these,  if  assiduous 
only  upon  tradition  and  attentive  to  hearing 
the  scriptures,  pass  beyond  the  gulf  of  death.* 

“Know,  O chief  of  the  Bharatas,  that  when- 
ever anything,  whether  animate  or  inanimate, 
is  produced,  it  is  due  to  the  union  of  the 
Kshetra  and  Kshetrajna — body  and  the  soul. 
He  who  seeth  the  Supreme  Being  existing 
alike  imperishable  in  all  perishable  things, 
sees  indeed.  Perceiving  the  same  Lord  pres- 
ent in  everything  and  everywhere,  he  does 
not  by  the  lower  self  destroy  his  own  soul, 
but  goeth  to  the  supreme  end.  He  who  seeth 


♦This  last  sentence  means  that  they  thus  lay  such  a 
foundation  as  that  in  subsequent  lives  they  'will  reach 
the  other  states  and  then  to  immortality. 


98 


B H AGAVAD-GIT  A 


that  all  his  actions  are  performed  by  nature 
only,  and  that  the  self  within  is  not  the  actor, 
sees  indeed.  And  when  he  realizes  perfectly 
that  all  things  whatsoever  in  nature  are  com- 
prehended in  the  One,  he  attains  to  the  Su- 
preme Spirit.  This  Supreme  Spirit,  O son 
of  Kunti,  even  when  it  is  in  the  body,  neither 
acteth  nor  is  it  affected  by  action,  because, 
being  without  beginning  and  devoid  of  attri- 
butes, it  is  changeless.  As  the  all-moving 
Akasa  by  reason  of  its  subtlety  passeth  every- 
where unaffected,  so  the  Spirit,  though  pres- 
ent in  every  kind  of  body,  is  not  attached  to 
action  nor  affected.  As  a single  sun  illumin- 
ateth  the  whole  world,  even  so  doth  the  One 
Spirit  illumine  every  body,  O son  of  Bhar- 
ata.  Those  who  with  the  eye  of  wisdom  thus 
perceive  what  is  the  difference  between  the 
body  and  Spirit  and  the  destruction  of  the 
illusion  of  objects,*  go  to  the  supreme. 


•This  refers  to  what  has  previously  been  said  about 
the  great  illusion  produced  by  nature  in  causing  us  to 
see  objects  as  different  from  Spirit,  and  it  agrees  with 
Patanjali,  who  says  that,  although  the  perfectly  illumi- 
nated being  has  destroyed  the  illusion,  it  still  has  a 
hold  upon  those  who  are  not  illuminated — they  will 
have  to  go  through  repeated  rebirths  until  their  time 
of  deliverance  also  comes. 


CHAPTER  THIRTEENTH 


99 


Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Thirteenth  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  THE  DISCRIMINATION 
OF  THE  KSHETRA  FROM  KSHETRAJNA. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DEVOTION  BY  MEANS  OF  SEPARATION  FROM  THE  THREE 
QUALITIES. 


KRISHNA: 


WILL  explain  turther  the  sublime 
spiritual  knowledge  superior  to  all 
others,  by  knowing  which  all  the  sages 
have  attained  to  supreme  perfection 
on  the  dissolution  of  this  body.  They  take 
sanctuary  in  this  wisdom,  and  having  attained 
to  my  state  they  are  not  born  again  even  at 
the  new  evolution,  nor  are  they  disturbed  at 
the  time  of  general  destruction. 

“The  great  Brahma  is  my  womb  in  which 
I place  the  seed;  from  that,  O son  of  Bhar- 
ata,  is  the  production  of  all  existing  things.* 
This  great  Brahma  is  the  womb  for  all  those 
various  forms  which  are  produced  from  any 
womb,  and  I am  the  Father  who  provideth 
the  seed.  The  three  great  qualities  called  sat- 
tva,  rajas,  and  tamas — light  or  truth,  passion 


*In  this  verse  BrahmCt  is  to  be  taken  as  prakriti,  or 
nature. 


CHAPTER  FOURTEENTH 


IOI 


or  desire,  and  indifference  or  darkness — are 
born  from  nature,  and  bind  the  imperishable 
soul  to  the  body,  O thou  of  mighty  arms.  Of 
these  the  sattva  quality  by  reason  of  its  lu- 
cidity and  peacefulness  entwineth  the  soul  to 
rebirth  through  attachment  to  knowledge 
- and  that  which  is  pleasant.  Know  that  rajas 
is  of  the  nature  of  desire,  producing  thirst 
and  propensity;  it,  O son  of  Kunti,  im- 
prisoneth  the  Ego  through  the  consequences 
produced  from  action.  The  quality  of  tamas, 
the  offspring  of  the  indifference  in  nature,  is 
the  deluder  of  all  creatures,  O son  of  Bhar- 
ata;  it  imprisoneth  the  Ego  in  a body  through 
heedless  folly,  sleep,  and  idleness.  The  sat- 
tva quality  attaches  the  soul  through  happi- 
ness and  pleasure,  the  rajas  through  action, 
and  tamas  quality  surrounding  the  power  of 
judgment  with  indifference  attaches  the  soul 
through  heedlessness. 

“When,  O son  of  Bharata,  the  qualities  of 
tamas  and  rajas  are  overcome,  then  that  of 
sattva  prevaileth ; tamas  is  chiefly  acting  when 
sattz’a  and  rajas  are  hidden;  and  when  the 
sattva  and  tamas  diminish,  then  rajas  pre- 
vaileth. When  wisdom,  the  bright  light,  shall 


102 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


become  evident  at  every  gate  of  the  body, 
then  one  may  know  that  the  sattva  quality 
is  prevalent  within.  The  love  of  gain,  ac- 
tivity in  action,  and  the  initiating  of  works, 
restlessness  and  inordinate  desire  are  pro- 
duced when  the  quality  of  rajas  is  prevalent, 
whilst  the  tokens  of  the  predominance  of  the 
tamas  quality  are  absence  of  illumination,  the 
presence  of  idleness,  heedlessness,  and  delu- 
sion, O son  of  Kunti. 

“If  the  body  is  dissolved  when  the  sattva 
quality  prevails,  the  self  within  proceeds  to 
the  spotless  spheres  of  those  who  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  highest  place.  When  the 
body  is  dissolved  while  the  quality  of  rajas 
is  predominant,  the  soul  is  born  again  in  a body 
attached  to  action ; and  so  also  of  one  who  dies 
while  tamas  quality  is  prevalent,  the  soul  is 
born  again  in  the  wombs  of  those  who  are 
deluded. 

“The  fruit  of  righteous  acts  is  called  pure 
and  holy,  appertaining  to  sattva;  from  rajas 
is  gathered  fruit  in  pain,  and  the  tamas  pro- 
duceth  only  senselessness,  ignorance,  and  in- 
difference. From  sattva  wisdom  is  produced, 
from  rajas  desire,  from  tamas  ignorance,  delu- 
sion and  folly.  Those  in  whom  the  sattva  qual- 


CHAPTER  FOURTEENTH 


103 


ity  is  established  mount  on  high,  those  who  are 
full  of  rajas  remain  in  the  middle  sphere,  the 
world  of  men,  while  those  who  are  overborne 
by  the  gloomy  quality,  tamas,  sink  below.  But 
when  the  wise  man  perceiveth  that  the  only 
agents  of  action  are  these  qualities,  and  com- 
prehends that  which  is  superior  to  the  quali- 
ties, he  attains  to  my  state.  And  when  the 
embodied  self  surpasseth  these  three  qualities 
of  goodness,  action,  and  indifference — which 
are  coexistent  with  the  body  it  is  released 
from  rebirth  and  death,  old  age  and  pain, 
and  drinketh  of  the  water  of  immortality.” 

ARJUNA: 

“What  are  the  characteristic  marks  by  which 
the  man  may  be  known,  O Master,  who  hath 
surpassed  the  three  qualities?  What  is  his 
course  of  life,  and  what  are  the  means  by 
which  he  overcometh  the  qualities?” 

KRISHNA: 

“He,  O son  of  Pandu,  who  doth  not  hate 
these  qualities — illumination,  action,  and  de- 
lusion— when  they  appear,  nor  longeth  for 
them  when  they  disappear ; who,  like  one  who 
is  of  no  party,  sitteth  as  one  unconcerned 


104 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


abou't  the  three  qualities  and  undisturbed  by 
them,  who  being  persuaded  that  the  qualities 
exist,  is  moved  not  by  them ; who  is  of  equal 
mind  in  pain  and  pleasure,  self-centred,  to 
whom  a lump  of  earth,  a stone,  or  gold  are 
as  one ; who  is  of  equal  mind  with  those  who 
love  or  dislike,  constant,  the  same  whether 
blamed  or  praised;  equally  minded  in  honor 
and  disgrace,  and  the  same  toward  friendly 
or  unfriendly  side,  engaging  only  in  neces- 
sary actions,  such  an  one  hath  surmounted 
the  qualities.  And  he,  my  servant,  who  wor- 
ships me  with  exclusive  devotion,  having  com- 
pletely overcome  the  qualities,  is  fitted  to  be 
absorbed  in  Brahma  the  Supreme.  I am  the 
embodiment  of  the  Supreme  Ruler,  and  of 
the  incorruptible,  of  the  unmodifying,  and  of 
the  eternal  law,  and  of  endless  bliss.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Fourteenth  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  BY.  MEANS  OF  SEPARATION  FROM  THE 
THREE  QUALITIES. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


DEVOTION  THROUGH  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  SUPREME 
SPIRIT. 


KRISHNA: 


M 


EN  say  that  the  Ashwattha,  the  eter- 
nal sacred  tree,*  grows  with  its  roots 
above  and  its  branches  below,  and  the 
leaves  of  which  are  the  Vedas;  he 
who  knows  this  knows  the  Vedas.  Its 
branches  growing  out  of  the  three  qualitiesf 
with  the  objects  of  sense  as  the  lesser  shoots, 
spread  forth,  some  above  and  some  below ; 
and  those  roots  which  ramify  below  in  the 
regions  of  mankind  are  the  connecting  bonds 
of  action.  Its  form  is  not  thus  understood  by 
men ; it  has  no  beginning,  nor  can  its  present 
constitution  be  understood, $ nor  has  it  any 
end.  When  one  hath  hewn  down  with  the 
strong  axe  of  dispassion  this  Ashwattha  tree 


♦This  is  a symbol  for  the  universe,  which  although 
apparently  destroyed  and  then  again  renovated,  is  never 
ending,  for  it  is  the  same  as  the  Evolutionary  Stream. 

fSee  preceding  Chapter. 

tThis  means  that  the  bound  Ego  cannot  understand  it. 


106  BHAGAVAD-GITA 

with  its  deeply-imbedded  roots,  then  that 
place  is  to  be  sought  after  from  which  those 
who  there  take  refuge  never  more  return  to 
rebirth,  for  it*  is  the  Primeval  Spirit  from 
which  floweth  the  never-ending  stream  of 
conditioned  existence.  Those  who  are  free 
from  pride  of  self  and  whose  discrimination 
is  perfected,  who  have  prevailed  over  tne 
fault  of  attachment  to  action,  who  are  con- 
stantly employed  in  devotion  to  meditation 
upon  the  Supreme  Spirit,  who  have  renounced 
desire  and  are  free  from  the  influence  of  the 
opposites  known  as  pleasure  and  pain,  are 
undeluded,  and  proceed  to  that  place  which 
endureth  forever.  Neither  the  sun  nor  the 
moon  nor  the  fire  enlighteneth  that  place ; 
from  it  there  is  no  return ; it  is  my  supreme 
abode. 

“It  is  even  a portion  of  myself  which,  hav- 
ing assumed  life  in  this  world  of  conditioned 
existence,  draweth  together  the  five  senses 
and  the  mind  in  order  that  it  may  obtain 
a body  and  may  leave  it  again.  And  those 
are  carried  by  the  Sovereign  Lord  to  and 


•It  is  the  place  of  the  Supreme. 


CHAPTER  FIFTEENTH  IO7 

from  whatever  body  he  enters  or  quits,  even 
as  the  breeze  bears  the  fragrance  from  the 
flower.  Presiding  over  the  eye,  the  ear,  the 
touch,  the  taste,  and  the  power  of  smelling, 
and  also  over  the  mind,  he  experienceth  the 
objects  of  sense.  The  deluded  do  not  see 
the  spirit  when  it  quitteth  or  remains  in  the 
body,  nor  when,  moved  by  the  qualities,  it 
has  experience  in  the  world.  But  those  who 
have  the  eye  of  wisdom  perceive  it,  and  de- 
votees who  industriously  strive  to  do  so  see 
it  dwelling  in  their  own  hearts ; whilst  those 
who  have  not  overcome  themselves,  who  are 
devoid  of  discrimination,  see  it  not  even 
though  they  strive  thereafter.  Know  that  the 
brilliance  of  the  sun  which  illuminateth  the 
whole  world,  and  the  light  which  is  in  the 
moon  and  in  the  fire,  are  the  splendor  of  my- 
self. I enter  the  earth  supporting  all  living 
things  by  my  power,  and  I am  that  property 
of  sap  which  is  taste,  nourishing  all  the  herbs 
and  plants  of  the  field.  Becoming  the  inter- 
nal fire  of  the  living,  I associate  with  the  up- 
ward and  downward  breathing,  and  cause  the 
four  kinds  of  food  to  digest.  I am  in  the 
hearts  of  all  men,  and  from  me  come  memory, 


io8 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


knowledge,  and  also  the  loss  of  both.  I am  to 
be  known  by  all  the  Vedas;  I am  he  who  is 
the  author  of  the  Vedanta,  and  I alone  am 
the  interpreter  of  the  Vedas. 

“There  are  two  kinds  of  beings  in  the  world, 
the  one  divisible,  the  other  indivisible;  the 
divisible  is  all  things  and  the  creatures,  the 
indivisible  is  called  Kutastha,  or  he  who  stand- 
eth  on  high  unaffected.  But  there  is  another 
spirit  designated  as  the  Supreme  Spirit — Par- 
amatma — which  permeates  and  sustains  the 
three  worlds.  As  I am  above  the  divisible 
and  also  superior  to  the  indivisible,  therefore 
both  in  the  world  and  in  the  Vedas  am  I known 
as  the  Supreme  Spirit.  He  who  being  not 
deluded  knoweth  me  thus  as  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  knoweth  all  things  and  worships  me 
under  every  form  and  condition. 

“Thus,  O sinless  one,  have  I declared  unto 
thee  this  most  sacred  science ; he  who  under- 
standeth  it,  O son  of  Bharata,  will  be  a wise 
man  and  the  performer  of  all  that  is  to  be 
done.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 


CHAPTER  FIFTEENTH 


iog 


Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Fifteenth  Chapter,  by  name — - 

DEVOTION  THROUGH  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  SU- 
PREME SPIRIT. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


DEVOTION  THROUGH  DISCRIMINATING  BETWEEN  GOD- 
LIKE AND  DEMONIACAL  NATURES. 


KRISHNA: 


EARLESSNESS,  sincerity,  assiduity 
in  devotion,  generosity,  self-restraint, 
piety,  and  almsgivings,  study,  mor- 
tification, and  rectitude ; harmlessness, 
veracity,  and  freedom  from  anger,  resigna- 
tion, equanimity,  and  not  speaking  of  the 
faults  of  others,  universal  compassion,  mod- 
esty, and  mildness ; patience,  power,  fortitude, 
and  purity,  discretion,  dignity,  unrevengeful- 
ness,  and  freedom  from  conceit — these  are  the 
marks  of  him  whose  virtues  are  of  a godlike 
character,  O son  of  Bharata.  Those,  O son 
of  Pritha,  who  are  born  with  demoniacal  dis- 
positions are  marked  by  hypocrisy,  pride,  an- 
ger, presumption,  harshness  of  speech,  and 
ignorance.  The  destiny  of  those  whose  at- 
tributes are  godlike  is  final  liberation,  while 
those  of  demoniacal  dispositions,  born  to  the 
Asuras’  lot,  is  continued  bondage  to  mortal 


CHAPTER  SIXTEENTH 


III 


birth;  grieve  not,  O son  of  Pandu,  for  thou 
art  born  with  the  divine  destiny.  There  are 
two  kinds  of  natures  in  beings  in  this  world, 
that  which  is  godlike,  and  the  other  which  is 
demoniacal ; the  godlike  hath  been  fully  de- 
clared, hear  now  from  me,  O son  of  Pritha, 
what  the  demoniacal  is. 

“Those  who  are  born  with  the  demoniacal 
disposition — of  the  nature  of  the  Asuras — 
know  not  the  nature  of  action  nor  of  cessation 
from  action,  they  know  not  purity  nor  right 
behavior,  they  possess  no  truthfulness.  They 
deny  that  the  universe  has  any  truth  in  it, 
saying  it  is  not  governed  by  law,  declaring 
that  it  hath  no  Spirit ; they  say  creatures  are 
produced  alone  through  the  union  of  the  sexes, 
and  that  all  is  for  enjoyment  only.  Main- 
taining this  view,  their  souls  being  ruined, 
their  minds  contracted,  with  natures  per- 
verted, enemies  of  the  world,  they  are  born 
to  destroy.  They  indulge  insatiable  desires, 
are  full  of  hypocrisy,  fast-fixed  in  false  be- 
liefs through  their  delusions.  They  indulge 
in  unlimited  reflections  which  end  only  in 
annihilation,  convinced  until  death  that  the 
enjoyment  of  the  objects  of  their  desires  is 


TI2 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


the  supreme  good.  Fast-bound  by  the  hun- 
dred chords  of  desire,  prone  to  lust  and  anger, 
they  seek  by  injustice  and  the  accumulation 
of  wealth  for  the  gratification  of  their  own 
lusts  and  appetites.  ‘This  to-day  hath  been 
acquired  by  me,  and  that  object  of  my  heart 
I shall  obtain;  this  wealth  I have,  and  that 
also  shall  be  mine.  This  foe  have  I already 
slain,  and  others  will  I forthwith  vanquish ; 
I am  the  lord,  I am  powerful,  and  I am 
happy.  I am  rich  and  with  precedence 
among  men ; where  is  there  another  like  unto 
me?  I shall  make  sacrifices,  give  alms,  and 
enjoy.’  In  this  manner  do  those  speak  who 
are  deluded.  Confounded  by  all  manner  of 
desires,  entangled  in  the  net  of  delusion,  firm- 
ly attached  to  the  gratification  of  their  de- 
sires, they  descend  into  hell.  Esteeming  them- 
selves very  highly,  self-willed,  full  of  pride 
and  ever  in  pursuit  of  riches,  they  perform 
worship  with  hypocrisy  and  not  even  accord- 
ing to  ritual,*  but  only  for  outward  show. 
Indulging  in  pride,  selfishness,  ostentation, 


•This  refers  to  the  Irregular  performance  of  Vedic 
sacrifices  by  those  who  are  without  the  right  spiritual 
gifts,  and  only  wish  to  imitate  ostentatiously  the  right 
performance. 


CHAPTER  SIXTEENTH  II3 

power,  lust,  and  anger,  they  detest  me  who 
am  in  their  bodies  and  in  the  bodies  of  others. 
Wherefore  I continually  hurl  these  cruel  ha- 
ters, the  lowest  of  men,  into  wombs  of  an  in- 
fernal nature  in  this  world  of  rebirth.  And 
they  being  doomed  to  those  infernal  wombs, 
more  and  more  deluded  in  each  succeeding 
rebirth,  never  come  to  me,  O son  of  Kunti, 
but  go  at  length  to  the  lowest  region.* 

“The  gates  of  hell  are  three — desire,  anger, 
covetousness,  which  destroy  the  soul ; where- 
fore one  should  abandon  them.  Being  free 
from  these  three  gates  of  hell,  O son  of  Kun- 
ti, a man  worketh  for  the  salvation  of  his 
soul,  and  thus  proceeds  to  the  highest  path. 
He  who  abandoneth  the  ordinances  of  the 
Scriptures  to  follow  the  dictates  of  his  own 
desires,  attaineth  neither  perfection  nor  hap- 
piness nor  the  highest  path.  Therefore,  in 
deciding  what  is  fit  and  what  unfit  to  be  done, 
thou  shouldst  perform  actions  on  earth  with  a 
knowledge  of  what  is  declared  in  Holy  Writ.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 


•This  is  final  annihilation  of  those  who  deny  their 
own  soul  and  thus  lose  it.  It  is  worse  than  the  hell 
before  spoken  of  for  there  is  no  return. 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


1 14 

Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Sixteenth  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  THROUGH  DISCRIMINATING  BETWEEN 
GODLIKE  AND  DEMONIACAL  NATURES. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

DEVOTION  AS  REGARDS  THE  THREE  KINDS  OF  FAITH. 


ARJUNA: 


W 


HAT  is  the  state  of  those  men  who, 
while  they  neglect  the  precepts  of  the 
Scriptures,  yet  worship  in  faith,  O 
Krishna?  Is  it  of  the  sattva,  the  ra- 
jas, or  the  tanias  quality?” 


KRISHNA: 

“The  faith  of  mortals  is  of  three  kinds, 
and  is  born  from  their  own  disposition ; it  is 
of  the  quality  of  truth — sattva,  action — rajas, 
and  indifference — tamos;  hear  now  what  those 
are. 

“The  faith  of  each  one,  O son  of  Bharata, 
proceeds  from  the  sattva  quality ; the  embod- 
ied soul  being  gifted  with  faith,  each  man  is 
of  the  same  nature  as  that  ideal  on  which  his 
faith  is  fixed.  Those  who  are  of  the  disposi- 
tion which  ariseth  from  the  prevalence  of  the 
sattva  or  good  quality  worship  the  gods  ; those 
of  the  quality  of  rajas  worship  the  celestial 


Il6  BHAGAVAD-GITA 

powers,  the  Yakshas  and  Rakshasas;  other 
men  in  whom  the  dark  quality  of  indiffer- 
ence or  tamas  predominates  worship  elemental 
powers  and  the  ghosts  of  dead  men.  Those 
who  practice  severe  self-mortification  not  en- 
joined in  the  Scriptures  are  full  of  hypo- 
crisy and  pride,  longing  for  what  is  past  and 
desiring  more  to  come.  They,  full  of  delu- 
sion, torture  the  powers  and  faculties  which 
are  in  the  body,  and  me  also,  who  am  in  the 
recesses  of  the  innermost  heart ; know  that 
they  are  of  an  infernal  tendency. 

“Know  that  food  which  is  pleasant  to  each 
one,  as  also  sacrifices,  mortification,  and  alms- 
giving, are  of  three  kinds ; hear  what  their  di- 
visions are.  The  food  which  increases  the 
length  of  days,  vigor  and  strength,  which 
keeps  one  free  from  sickness,  of  tranquil  mind, 
and  contented,  and  which  is  savory,  nourish- 
ing, of  permanent  benefit  and  congenial  to 
the  body,  is  that  which  is  attractive  to  those 
in  whom  the  sattva  quality  prevaileth.  The 
food  which  is  liked  by  those  of  the  rajas 
quality  is  over  bitter,  too  acid,  excessively  salt, 
hot,  pungent,  dry  and  burning,  and  causeth 
unpleasantness,  pain,  and  disease.  Whatever 


CHAPTER  SEVENTEENTH  I17 

food  is  such  as  was  dressed  the  day  before, 
that  is  tasteless  or  rotting,  that  is  impure,  is 
that  which  is  preferred  by  those  in  whom  pre- 
dominates the  quality  of  tamas  or  indifference. 

“The  sacrifice  or  worship  which  is  direct- 
ed by  Scripture  and  is  performed  by  those 
who  expect  no  reward  but  who  are  convinced 
that  it  is  necessary  to  be  done,  is  of  the  qual- 
ity of  light,  of  goodness,  of  sattva.  But  know 
that  that  worship  or  sacrifice  which  is  per- 
formed with  a view  to  its  results,  and  also  for 
an  ostentation  of  piety,  belongs  to  passion, 
the  quality  of  rajas,  O best  of  the  Bharatas. 
But  that  which  is  not  according  to  the  pre- 
cepts of  Holy  Writ,  without  distribution  of 
bread,  without  sacred  hymns,  without  gifts  to 
brahmans  at  the  conclusion,  and  without  faith, 
is  of  the  quality  of  tamas. 

“Honoring  the  gods,  the  brahmans,  the 
teachers,  and  the  wise,  purity,  rectitude, 
chastity,  and  harmlessness  are  called  morti- 
fication of  the  body.  Gentle  speech  which 
causes  no  anxiety,  which  is  truthful  and 
friendly,  and  diligence  in  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures,  are  said  to  be  austerities  of  speech. 
Serenity  of  mind,  mildness  of  temper,  silence, 


1 18 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


self-restraint,  absolute  straightforwardness  of 
conduct,  are  called  mortification  of  the  mind. 
This  threefold  mortification  or  austerity  prac- 
ticed with  supreme  faith  and  by  those  who 
long  not  for  a reward  is  of  the  sattva  quality. 

“But  that  austerity  which  is  practiced  with 
hypocrisy,  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  respect 
for  oneself  or  for  fame  or  favor,  and  which  is 
uncertain  and  belonging  wholly  to  this  world, 
is  of  the  quality  of  rajas.  Those  austerities 
which  are  practiced  merely  by  wounding  one- 
self or  from  a false  judgment  or  for  the  hurt- 
ing of  another  are  of  the  quality  of  tamas. 
Those  gifts  which  are  bestowed  at  the  proper 
time  to  the  proper  person,  and  by  men  who 
are  not  desirous  of  a return,  are  of  the  sattva 
quality,  good  and  of  the  nature  of  truth.  But 
that  gift  which  is  given  with  the  expectation 
of  a return  from  the  beneficiary  or  with  a 
view  to  spiritual  benefit  flowing  therefrom 
or  with  reluctance,  is  of  the  rajas  quality,  bad 
and  partaketh  of  untruth.  Gifts  given  out  of 
place  and  season  and  to  unworthy  persons, 
without  proper  attention  and  scornfully,  are 
of  the  tamas  quality,  wholly  bad  and  of  the 
nature  of  darkness. 


CHAPTER  SEVENTEENTH  Iig 

“Om  Tat  Sat  these  are  said  to  be  the 
threefold  designation  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
By  these  in  the  beginning  were  sanctified  the 
knowers  of  Brahma*  the  Vedas,  and  sacrifices. 
Therefore  the  sacrifices,  the  giving  of  alms, 
and  the  practicing  of  austerities  are  always, 
among  those  who  expound  Holy  Writ,  pre- 
ceded by  the  word  Om.  Among  those  who 
long  for  immortality  and  who  do  not  con- 
sider the  reward  for  their  actions,  the  word 
Tat  precedes  their  rites  of  sacrifice,  their 
austerities,  and  giving  of  alms.  The  word  Sat 
is  used  for  qualities  that  are  true  and  holy, 
and  likewise  is  applied  to  laudable  actions,  O 
son  of  Pritha.  The  state  of  mental  sacrifice 
when  actions  are  at  rest  is  also  called  Sat. 
Whatever  is  done  without  faith,  whether 
it  be  sacrifice,  alms-giving,  or  austerities,  is 
called  Asat,  that  which  is  devoid  of  truth  and 
goodness,  O son  of  Pritha,  and  is  not  of  any 
benefit  either  in  this  life  or  after  death.” 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gita,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 


*It  reads  “Brahmanas,”  and  does  not  seem  to  refer 
to  any  caste. 


120 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Seventeenth  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  AS  REGARDS  THE  THREE  KINDS  OF 
FAITH. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


DEVOTION  AS  REGARDS  RENUNCIATION  AND  FINAL 
LIBERATION. 

ARJUNA: 

nWISH  to  learn,  O great-armed  one, 
the  nature  of  abstaining  from  action 
and  of  the  giving  up  of  the  results 
of  action,  and  also  the  difference  be- 
tween these  two,  O slayer  of  Keshin.”* 

KRISHNA: 

“The  bards  conceive  that  the  forsaking:  of 
actions  which  have  a desired  object  is  renun- 
ciation or  Sannyasa,  the  wise  call  the  disre- 
gard of  the  fruit  of  every  action  true  dis- 
interestedness in  action.  By  some  wise  men 
it  is  said,  ‘Every  action  is  as  much  to  be 
avoided  as  a crime,’  while  by  others  it  is  de- 
clared, ‘Deeds  of  sacrifice,  of  mortification, 
and  of  charity  should  not  be  forsaken.’  Among 
these  divided  opinions  hear  my  certain  deci- 

•Keshin  was  a daitya,  a demon,  fabled  to  have  been 
sent  by  Kansa  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  Krishna. 


122 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


sion,  O best  of  the  Bharatas,  upon  this  mat- 
ter of  disinterested  forsaking,  which  is  de- 
clared to  be  of  three  kinds,  O chief  of  men. 
Deeds  of  sacrifice,  of  mortification,  and  of 
charity  are  not  to  be  abandoned,  for  they  are 
proper  to  be  performed,  and  are  the  puri- 
fiers of  the  wise.  But  even  those  works  are 
to  be  performed  after  having  renounced  all 
selfish  interest  in  them  and  in  their  fruits; 
this,  O son  of  Pritha,  is  my  ultimate  and  su- 
preme decision.  The  abstention  from  works 
which  are  necessary  and  obligatory  is  im- 
proper; the  not  doing  of  such  actions  is  due 
to  delusion  springing  from  the  quality  of 
tamas.  The  refraining  from  works  because 
they  are  painful  and  from  the  dread  of  an- 
noyance ariseth  from  the  quality  of  rajas  which 
belongs  to  passion,  and  he  who  thus  leaves 
undone  what  he  ought  to  do  shall  not  ob- 
tain the  fruit  which  comes  from  right  for- 
saking. The  work  which  is  performed,  O 
Arjuna,  because  it  is  necessary,  obligatory, 
and  proper,  with  all  self-interest  therein  put 
aside  and  attachment  to  the  action  absent,  is 
declared  to  be  of  the  quality  of  truth  and  good- 
ness which  is  known  as  sattva.  The  true  re- 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEENTH 


123 


nouncer,  full  of  the  quality  of  goodness,  wise 
and  exempt  from  all  doubt,  is  averse  neither 
to  those  works  which  fail  nor  those  which 
succeed.  It  is  impossible  for  mortals  to  ut- 
terly abandon  actions ; but  he  who  gives  up 
the  results  of  action  is  the  true  renouncer. 
The  threefold  results  of  action — unwished  for, 
wished  for,  and  mixed — accrue  after  death 
to  those  who  do  not  practice  this  renuncia- 
tion, but  no  results  follow  those  who  perfectly 
renounce.* 

“Learn,  O great-armed  one,  that  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  every  work  five  agents  are 
necessary,  as  is  declared.  These  are  the  sub- 
stratum, the  agent,  the  various  sorts  of  or- 
gans, the  various  and  distinct  movements  and 
with  these,  as  fifth,  the  presiding  deities. 
These  five  agents  are  included  in  the  per- 
formance of  every  act  which  a man  under- 
taketh,  whether  with  his  body,  his  speech,  or 
his  mind.  This  being  thus,  whoever  because 
of  the  imperfection  of  his  mind  beholdeth 
the  real  self  as  the  agent  thinketh  wrong- 


*This  verse  refers  not  only  to  effects  after  death  in 
the  post-mortem  states,  but  also  to  subsequent  lives 
in  the  body  upon  reincarnating. 


124 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


ly  and  seeth  not  aright.  He  whose  nature  is 
free  from  egotism  and  whose  power  of  dis- 
crimination is  not  blinded  does  not  slay  though 
he  killeth  all  these  people,  and  is  not  bound 
by  the  bonds  of  action.  The  three  causes 
which  incite  to  action  are  knowledge,  the  thing 
to  be  known,  and  the  knower,  and  threefold 
also  is  the  totality  of  the  action  in  the  act,  the 
instrument,  and  the  agent.  Knowledge,  the  act, 
and  the  agent  are  also  distinguished  in  three 
ways  according  to  the  three  qualities ; listen 
to  their  enumeration  after  that  classification. 

“Know  that  the  wisdom  which  perceives 
in  all  nature  one  single  principle,  indivisible 
and  incorruptible,  not  separate  in  the  separ- 
ate objects  seen,  is  of  the  sattva  quality.  The 
knowledge  which  perceives  different  and  man- 
ifold principles  as  present  in  the  world  of  cre- 
ated beings  pertains  to  rajas,  the  quality  of 
passion.  But  that  knowledge,  wholly  with- 
out value,  which  is  mean,  attached  to  one  ob- 
ject alone  as  if  it  were  the  whole,  which  does 
not  see  the  true  cause  of  existence,  is  of  the 
nature  of  tamas,  indifferent  and  dark. 

“The  action  which  is  right  to  be  done,  per- 
formed without  attachment  to  results,  free 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEENTH 


I25 


from  pride  and  selfishness,  is  of  the  sattva 
quality.  That  one  is  of  the  rajas  quality 
which  is  done  with  a view  to  its  consequences, 
or  with  great  exertion,  or  with  egotism.  And 
that  which  in  consequence  of  delusion  is  un- 
dertaken without  regard  to  its  consequences, 
or  the  power  to  carry  it  out,  or  the  harm  it 
may  cause,  is  of  the  quality  of  darkness— 
tamas. 

“The  doer  who  performs  necessary  actions 
unattached  to  their  consequences  and  without 
love  or  hatred  is  of  the  nature  of  the  quality 
of  truth — sattva.  The  doer  whose  actions  are 
performed  with  attachment  to  the  result,  with 
great  exertion,  for  the  gratification  of  his 
lusts  and  with  pride,  covetousness,  unclean- 
ness, and  attended  with  rejoicing  and  griev- 
ing, is  of  the  quality  of  rajas — passion  and 
desire.  The  doer  who  is  ignorant,  foolish, 
undertaking  actions  without  ability,  without 
discrimination,  with  sloth,  deceit,  obstinacy, 
mischievousness,  and  dilatoriness,  is  of  the 
quality  of  tamas. 

“Hear  now,  O Dhananjaya,  conqueror  of 
wealth,  the  differences  which  I shall  now  ex- 


120 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


plain  in  the  discerning  power*  and  the  stead- 
fast power  within,  according  to  the  three 
classes  flowing  from  the  divisions  of  the  three 
qualities.  The  discerning  power  that  knows 
how  to  begin  and  to  renounce,  what  should 
and  what  should  not  be  done,  what  is  to  be 
feared  and  what  not,  what  holds  fast  and 
what  sets  the  soul  free,  is  of  the  sattva  quali- 
ty. That  discernment,  O son  of  Pritha,  which 
does  not  fully  know  what  ought  to  be  done 
and  what  not,  what  should  be  feared  and  what 
not,  is  of  the  passion-born  rajas  quality.  That 
discriminating  power  which  is  enveloped  in 
obscurity,  mistaking  wrong  for  right  and  all 
things  contrary  to  their  true  intent  and  mean- 
ing, is  of  the  dark  quality  of  tamas. 

“That  power  of  steadfastness  holding  the 
man  together,  which  by  devotion  controls 
every  motion  of  the  mind,  the  breath,  the 
senses  and  the  organs,  partaketh  of  the  sattz'a 
quality.  And  that  which  cherisheth  duty, 
pleasure,  and  wealth,  in  him  who  looketh  to 
the  fruits  of  action  is  of  the  quality  of  rajas. 
But  that  through  which  the  man  of  low  ca- 
pacity stays  fast  in  drowsiness,  fear,  grief, 

♦This  is  Buddhi,  the  highest  intellection,  the  power 
of  judgment. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEENTH 


127 


vanity  and  rashness  is  from  the  tamas  quality, 
O son  of  Pritha. 

“Now  hear  what  are  the  three  kinds  of 
pleasure  wherein  happiness  comes  from  hab- 
itude and  pain  is  ended.  That  which  in  the 
beginning  is  as  poison  and  in  the  end  as  the 
water  of  life,  and  which  arises  from  a puri- 
fied understanding,  is  declared  to  be  of  the 
sattva  quality.  That  arising  from  the  connec- 
tion of  the  senses  with  their  objects  which  in 
the  beginning  is  sweet  as  the  waters  of  life 
but  at  the  end  like  poison,  is  of  the  quality 
of  rajas.  That  pleasure  is  of  the  dark  tamas 
quality  which  both  in  the  beginning  and  the 
end  arising  from  sleep,  idleness,  and  careless- 
ness, tendeth  both  in  the  beginning  and  the 
end  to  stupify  the  soul.  There  is  no  creature 
on  earth  nor  among  the  hosts  in  heaven  who 
is  free  from  these  three  qualities  which  arise 
from  nature. 

“The  respective  duties  of  the  four  castes, 
of  Brahmans,  Kshatriyas,  Vaisyas,  and  Su- 
dras,  are  also  determined  by  the  qualities 
which  predominate  in  the  disposition  of  each, 
O harasser  of  thy  foes.  The  natural  duty  of 
a Brahman  compriseth  tranquility,  purity,  self- 


128 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


mastery,  patience,  rectitude,  learning,  spirit- 
ual discernment,  and  belief  in  the  existence 
of  another  world.  Those  of  the  Kshatriya 
sprung  from  his  nature,  are  valor,  glory, 
strength,  firmness,  not  to  flee  from  the  field 
of  battle,  liberality  and  a lordly  character. 
The  natural  duties  of  the  Vaisya  are  to  till 
the  land,  tend  cattle  and  to  buy  and  sell ; and 
that  of  the  Sudra  is  to  serve,  as  is  his  natural 
disposition. 

“Men  being  contented  and  devoted  to  their 
own  proper  duties  attain  perfection ; hear  now 
how  that  perfection  is  attained  by  devotion  to 
natural  duty. 

“If  a man  maketh  offering  to  the  Supreme 
Being  who  is  the  source  of  the  works  of  all 
and  by  whom  this  universe  was  spread  abroad, 
he  thus  obtaineth  perfection.  The  perform- 
ance of  the  duties  of  a man’s  own  particular 
calling,  although  devoid  of  excellence,  is  bet- 
ter than  doing  the  duty  of  another,  however 
well  performed ; and  he  who  fulfils  the  duties 
obligated  by  nature,  does  not  incur  sin.  A 
man’s  own  natural  duty,  even  though  stained 
with  faults,  ought  not  to  be  abandoned.  For 
all  human  acts  are  involved  in  faults,  as  the 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEENTH 


129 


fire  is  wrapped  in  smoke.  The  highest  per- 
fection of  freedom  from  action  is  attained 
through  renunciation  by  him  who  in  all  works 
has  an  unfettered  mind  and  subdued  heart. 

“Learn  from  me,  in  brief,  in  what  manner 
the  man  who  has  reached  perfection  attains 
to  the  Supreme  Spirit,  which  is  the  end,  the 
aim,  and  highest  condition  of  spiritual  knowl- 
edge. 

“Embued  with  pure  discrimination,  re- 
straining himself  with  resolution,  having  re- 
jected the  charms  of  sound  and  other  objects 
of  the  senses,  and  casting  off  attachment  and 
dislike ; dwelling  in  secluded  places,  eating 
little,  with  speech,  body,  and  mind  controlled, 
engaging  in  constant  meditation  and  unwav- 
eringly fixed  in  dispassion ; abandoning  ego- 
tism, arrogance,  violence,  vanity,  desire,  an- 
ger, pride,  and  possession,  with  calmness  ever 
present,  a man  is  fitted  to  be  the  Supreme 
Being.  And  having  thus  attained  to  the  Su- 
preme, he  is  serene,  sorrowing  no  more,  and 
no  more  desiring,  but  alike  towards  all  creat- 
ures he  attains  to  supreme  devotion  to  me. 
By  this  devotion  to  me  he  knoweth  funda- 
mentally who  and  what  I am  and  having  thus 


130 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


discovered  me  he  enters  into  me  without  any 
intermediate  condition.  And  even  the  man 
who  is  always  engaged  in  action  shall  attain 
by  my  favor  to  the  eternal  and  incorruptible 
imperishable  abode,  if  he  puts  his  trust  in  me 
alone.  With  thy  heart  place  all  thy  works  on 
me,  prefer  me  to  all  else,  exercise  mental  de- 
votion continually,  and  think  constantly  of 
me.  By  so  doing  thou  shalt  by  my  divine 
favor  surmount  every  difficulty  which  sur- 
roundeth  thee ; but  if  from  pride  thou  wilt  not 
listen  to  my  words,  thou  shalt  undoubtedly  be 
lost.  And  if,  indulging  self-confidence,  thou 
sayest  ‘I  will  not  fight,’  such  a determination 
will  prove  itself  vain,  for  the  principles  of 
thy  nature  will  impel  thee  to  engage.  Being 
bound  by  all  past  karma  to  thy  natural  duties, 
thou,  O son  of  Kunti,  wilt  involuntarily  do 
from  necessity  that  which  in  thy  folly  thou 
wouldst  not  do.  There  dwelleth  in  the  heart 
of  every  creature,  O Arjuna,  the  Master — Ish- 
wara - — who  by  his  magic  power  causeth  all 
things  and  creatures  to  revolve  mounted  upon 
the  universal  wheel  of  time.  Take  sanctuary 
with  him  alone,  O son  of  Bharata,  with  all  thy 
soul : by  his  grace  thou  shalt  obtain  supreme 
happiness,  the  eternal  place. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEENTH  I31 

“Thus  have  I made  known  unto  thee  this 
knowledge  which  is  a mystery  more  secret 
than  secrecy  itself ; ponder  it  fully  in  thy 
mind ; act  as  seemeth  best  unto  thee. 

“But  further  listen  to  my  supreme  and  most 
mysterious  words  which  I will  now  for  thy 
good  reveal  unto  thee  because  thou  art  dearly 
beloved  of  me.  Place  thy  heart  upon  me  as 
I have  declared  myself  to  be,  serve  me,  offer 
unto  me  alone,  and  bow  down  before  me  alone, 
and  thou  shalt  come  to  me ; I swear  it,  for 
thou  art  dear  to  me.  Forsake  every  other  re- 
ligion and  take  refuge  alone  with  me ; grieve 
not,  for  I shall  deliver  thee  from  all  trans- 
gressions. Thou  must  never  reveal  this  to  one 
who  doth  not  practice  mortification,  who  is 
•without  devotion,  who  careth  not  to  hear  it, 
nor  unto  him  who  despiseth  me.  He  who  ex- 
pounded! this] supreme  mystery  to  my  wor- 
shippers shall  come  to  me  if  he  perfoms  the 
highest  worship  of  me ; and  there  shall  not  be 
among  men  anyone  who  will  better  serve  me 
than  he,  and  he  shall  be  dearest  unto  me  of 
all  on  earth.  If  anyone  shall  study  these  sacred 
dialogues  held  between  us  two,  I shall  con- 
sider that  I am  worshipped  by  him  with  the 


132 


BHAGAVAD-GITA 


sacrifice  of  knowledge ; this  is  my  resolve. 
And  even  the  man  who  shall  listen  to  it  with 
faith  and  not  reviling  shall,  being  freed  from 
evil,  attain  to  the  regions  of  happiness  pro- 
vided for  those  whose  deeds  are  righteous. 

“Hast  thou  heard  all  this,  O son  of  Pritha, 
with  mind  one-pointed?  Has  the  delusion  of 
thought  which  arose  from  ignorance  been  re- 
moved, O Dhananjaya?” 

ARJUNA: 

“By  thy  divine  power,  O thou  who  fallest 
not,*  my  delusion  is  destroyed,  I am  collected 
once  more ; I am  free  from  doubt,  firm,  and 
will  act  according  to  thy  bidding.” 

SANJAYA: 

Thus  have  I been  an  ear-witness  of  the 
miraculous  astonishing  dialogue,  never  heard 
before,  between  Vasudeva  and  the  magnani- 
mous son  of  Pritha.  By  the  favor  of  Vyasa 
I heard  this  supreme  mystery  of  Yoga — de- 
votion— even  as  revealed  from  the  mouth  of 
Krishna  himself  who  is  the  supreme  Master 
of  devotion.  And  as  I again  and  again  re- 


*The  word  is  "Achyuta.” 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEENTH 


133 


member,  O mighty  king,  this  wonderful  sa- 
cred dialogue  between  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
I am  delighted  again  and  again.  Also,  as  I 
recall  to  my  memory  the  wonderful  form  of 
Hari,*  the  Lord,  my  astonishment  is  great,  O 
king,  and  I rejoice  again  and  again.  Where- 
ever  Krishna,  the  supreme  Master  of  devo- 
tion, and  wherever  the  son  of  Pritha,  the 
mighty  archer,  may  be,  there  with  certainty 
are  fortune,  victory,  wealth,  and  wise  action ; 
this  is  my  belief. 

Thus  in  the  Upanishads,  called  the  holy 
Bhagavad-Gitd,  in  the  science  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  in  the  book  of  devotion,  in  the  collo- 
quy between  the  Holy  Krishna  and  Arjuna, 
stands  the  Eighteenth  Chapter,  by  name — 

DEVOTION  AS  REGARDS  RENUNCIATION  AND  FI- 
NAL LIBERATION. 


*One  of  the  names  of  Vishnu,  and  also  applied  to 
Krishna. 


The  United  Lodge  of 
Theosophists 


DECLARATION 

The  policy  of  this  Lodge  is  independent  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  Theosophy,  without  professing  at- 
tachment to  any  Theosophical  organization.  It  is 
loyal  to  the  great  Founders  of  the  Theosophical 
Movement,  but  does  not  concern  itself  with  dissen- 
sions or  differences  of  individual  opinion. 

The  work  it  has  on  hand  and  the  end  it  keeps 
in  view  are  too  absorbing  and  too  lofty  to  leave  it 
the  time  or  inclination  to  take  part  in  side  issues. 
That  work  and  that  end  is  the  dissemination  of  the 
Fundamental  Principles  of  the  philosophy  of  The- 
osophy, and  the  exemplification  in  practice  of  those 
principles,  through  a truer  realization  of  the  Self; 
a profounder  conviction  of  Universal  Brotherhood. 

It  holds  that  the  unassailable  Basis  for  Union  among 
Theosophists,  wherever  and  however  situated,  is  “simil- 
arity of  aim,  purpose  and  teaching ’’  and  therefore  has 
neither  Constitution,  By-Laws  nor  Officers,  the  sole  bond 
between  its  associates  being  that  basis.  And  its  aims  to 
disseminate  this  idea  among  Theosophists  in  the  further- 
ance of  Unity. 

It  regards  as  Theosophists  all  who  are  engaged  in  the 
true  service  of  Humanity,  without  distinction  of  race,  creed, 
sex,  condition  or  organization,  and 

It  welcomes  to  its  association  all  those  who  are  in  accord 
with  its  declared  purposes  and  who  desire  to  fit  themselves, 
by  study  and  otherwise,  to  be  the  better  able  to  help  and 
teach  others. 


Inquiries  are  invited  from  all  persons  to  whom  this  Move- 
ment may  appeal.  Cards  for  signature  will  be  sent  upon 
request,  and  every  possible  assistance  furnished  Associates 
in  their  studies  and  in  efforts  to  form  local  Lodges.  There 
are  no  dues  of  any  kind,  and  no  formalities  to  be  complied 
with.  Correspondence  should  be  addressed  to 

GENERAL  REGISTRAR,  The  United  Lodge  of 
Theosophists.  Los  Angeles,  California. 

Metropolitan  Building,  Broadway  at  Fifth  St. 


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Rules  for  Disciples,  with  Comments,  and  the 
Treatise  on  Karma,  writen  down  by  M.  C. 
Pocket  size,  with  leather  covers. 


YOGA  APHORISMS  OF  PATANJALI  - 1.25 

Rendered  into  English,  with  an  Introduction 
and  Notes,  by  W.  Q.  Judge.  Pocket  size, 
with  leather  covers. 


LETTERS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED  ME 


Both  Volumes,  bound  in  one  - - - - 1.50 

Letters  written  by  “Z.  L.  Z.,”  “Greatest 
of  the  Exiles,”  to  Jasper  Niemand  and 
others.  By  W.  Q.  Judge. 


CONVERSATIONS  ON  THEOSOPHY  - .10 

A brief  but  clear  statement  of  principles,  in 
question  and  answer;  p.  16.  In  quantities 
for  propaganda,  50  copies  for  $2.00. 


REINCARNATION  AND  KARMA  ...  .10 

Pamphlet  of  34  pages.  Assembling  under 
“Reincarnation”  excerpts  from  Mr.  Judge’s 
writings.  Also  contains  reprints  of  articles 
on  Karma  published  by  Mr.  Judge  in  The 


CULTURE  OF  CONCENTRATION  - - .10 

By  Wm.  Q.  Judge.  A pamphlet  of  32  pages, 
which  also  includes  Mr.  Judge’s  article, 

“Of  Occult  Powers  and  Their  Acquire- 
ment.” Invaluable  to  students  who  are 
attempting  to  follow  the  PATH. 


SOME  THEOSOPHICAL  PROPHECIES  .15 

Pamphlet  of  32  pages,  magazine  size,  made 
up  from  the  writings  of  H.  P.  Blavatsky, 
Wm.  Q.  Judge,  and  others,  pointing  to  the 
causes  of  present  day  sociological  disturb- 
ances, and  indicating  the  inevitable  results. 

Orders  should  be  addressed  and  all  remit- 
tances made  payable  to  The  United  Lodge  of 
Theosophists,  Metropolitan  Building,  Broad- 
way at  Fifth  Street,  Los  Angeles,  California. 


Volume  1 
Volume  2 


$1.00 

1.00 


Path. 


